Lambros Demetrios Callimahos (December 16, 1910 – October 28, 1977) was a
US Army cryptologist and a
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
player.
Early life and education
Callimahos was born in
Alexandria of
Greek parents; the family emigrated to the
United States when he was four. His father was a
journalist.
His main interests at school were in chemistry, physics and medicine. He did not show interest in
music until the age of fourteen when he entered
high school in
Asbury Park.
Callimahos earned a degree in
law from
Rutgers in accord with his fathers' wishes, but attended
Juilliard music school at the age of nineteen and graduated with a degree in 1933. While he started at the bottom of the class, he became head of his class in his second year after encouragement from his teacher,
Arthur Lora
Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...
. After graduation, he continued study in
Europe.
Musical career
His musical debut was in
Munich in 1935 and was heralded as ''Meisterfloetist''. He also played in
Vienna and that autumn played an all-
Bach programme in
Munich, consisting of the seven sonatas and his own transcription for flute and harpsichord of the B-Minor suite. He had a two-year tour of recitals in
Europe and was appointed to a professorship in the
Mozarteum. Two CDs of his performances were recorded and released.
In April 1937, he had his first
United States debut in
The Town Hall. He continued to tour both in
Europe and the
United States.
World War II
He joined the
United States Army in 1941, hoping his interest in
cryptology could be put to service.
He taught
Italian and
cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...
at
Fort Monmouth. He enrolled in a
Japanese course and eventually served as a
Signals Intelligence
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
officer in
New Delhi.
Later career
After World War II, he was assigned to the
Army Security Agency as assistant to
William F. Friedman. When the
National Security Agency was formed, both men joined it. During the 1950s he developed the course
CA-400, an expansion of Friedman's own intensive-study course. Graduates of the course became members of the
Dundee Society The Dundee Society was a society of graduates of CA-400, a National Security Agency course in cryptology devised by Lambros D. Callimahos, which included the Zendian Problem (a practical exercise in traffic analysis and cryptanalysis). The class ...
. As part of this course he devised the
Zendian Problem. He also revised some of Friedman's own work to produce the text ''
Military Cryptanalytics ''Military Cryptanalytics'' (or MILCRYP as it is sometimes known) is a revision by Lambros D. Callimahos of the series of books written by William F. Friedman under the title ''Military Cryptanalysis''. It may also contain contributions by other cr ...
''.
In 1955, he established the ''
NSA Technical Journal'' and served as technical advisor for the rest of his career.
Health problems forced his retirement in 1976.
References
External links
NSA pdf about the Legacy of Lambros D. Callimahos at the NSA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callimahos, Lambros D.
1910 births
1977 deaths
Signals Intelligence Service cryptographers
United States Army personnel of World War II
National Security Agency cryptographers
Egyptian emigrants to the United States