Elizebeth Smith Friedman

Elizebeth Smith Friedman was an American cryptanalyst and one of the early professional codebreakers in the United States. She began cryptologic work at Riverbank Laboratories and later applied it to military, law-enforcement, and wartime problems.

Applied cryptanalysis

During Prohibition, Friedman and her team broke communications used by smuggling networks and she appeared as an expert witness in criminal cases. During the Second World War, her work on clandestine Axis communications in South America remained largely uncredited publicly for decades because of secrecy.

Historical recognition

Declassification and later scholarship made more of her contribution visible. Her place in this archive rests on documented cryptanalytic work, not on a symbolic role assigned after the fact.

In memoriam

Friedman died in 1980. Her life is now recognized as an essential chapter in the history of American codebreaking.

Timeline

• 1892-08-26Born in Huntington, Indiana.
• 1916Begins cryptanalytic research at Riverbank Laboratories.
• 1925Leads U.S. Coast Guard cryptanalytic work against smuggling networks.
• 1943Contributes to work against Axis clandestine communications in South America.
• 1980-10-31Dies in Plainfield, New Jersey.