Emily Anderson OBE (17 March 1891 – 26 October 1962) was an Irish scholar of German ancestry, music historian and cryptanalyst at the British Government Code and Cipher School (now GCHQ) for almost 30 years.
[1][3][5] Anderson was approached to join MI1b, the cryptanalysis section of the British War Office, in the autumn of 1917 and she moved to London to take up duty in July 1918.
Major Malcolm Vivian Hay and Alastair Denniston named Anderson as a codebreaker they wanted to keep in the newly formed Government Code and Cipher School (now GCHQ).
She resumed her career at GC&CS on 10 January 1920, with the cover story that she was working in the Foreign Office.
In July 1943, Anderson was awarded the OBE by King George VI for her "services to the forces and in connection with military operations".
[1][3] In May 1943, Anderson returned to London to work on German and Hungarian diplomatic codes in GC&CS's Berkeley Street offices.
[1][4] In parallel with her secret career in GC&CS, Anderson gained public renown for her translation work.
West Germany awarded Anderson the Order of Merit (Officer's Cross First Class) for her work on Beethoven.
In Ui Chionna's biography, she suggests there was no economic reason for Anderson, a very private person, to take in a lodger.