William Friedman was an American cryptologist, sometimes called “the father of American cryptology.” He led the Army’s code-breaking division and is known as a central figure of the team that broke Japan’s diplomatic cipher (Purple) before World War II.
As a cryptography expert, he also worked for many years on the Voynich Manuscript, forming a study group to analyze its script. In the end, Friedman came to believe that the manuscript might be written in an artificially constructed language.
