Teddy (Thadée) Pilley was a linguist and conference interpreter.

Family

He was born as Ari Thaddeus Pilichowski in Paris. His parents,

Leopold Pilichowski Leopold Pilichowski (March 23, 1869 – July 28, 1933) was a Polish Jewish realist painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, active during the final years of the foreign partitions of Poland. He was known for his commitment to social co ...

(18601934) and Lena Pillico (Pilichowski) (18841947), were Jewish émigrés from Poland and were both accomplished artists. Pilley had two sisters, Maia Gainsborough (Pilichowski) (19041936) and Thea Doniach (Pilichowski) (19071986), and a brother Vivien Pilley (Pilichowski) (19071982). When Teddy Pilley was 4‑years old, his parents moved the family from Paris to London, where he remained until his death. He was married to Nora (Sachs), and they had one son, Peter.

Education

Pilley's early education was at Merchant Taylors' School in London. He then studied at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, graduating with a PPE degree.

Second World War

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Pilley served in the RAF, reaching the rank of

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

. Pilley was first stationed at

RAF Aldergrove Aldergrove Flying Station, also known previously as JHC FS Aldergrove, is a British military base located south of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, Northern Ireland and northwest of Belfast, and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is som ...

in Northern Ireland, where he flew with No.245 Squadron. He was later transferred to

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

, where he remained for the duration of the war. At Bletchley, he worked in the Air Intelligence section in

Hut 3 Hut 3 was a section of the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park during World War II. It retained the name for its functions when it moved into Block D. It produced military intelligence codenamed Ultra from the decrypts of Eni ...

, translating, classifying and prioritising

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

signals, which had previously been intercepted and then decoded using

Bombe The bombe () was an Electromechanics, electro-mechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma machine, Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II. The United States Navy, US Navy and United Sta ...

and

Enigma Enigma may refer to: *Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling Biology *ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain Computing and technology * Enigma (company), a New York–based data-technology startup *Enigma machine, a famil ...

machines.

Conference interpreting

During the post-war years, Pilley became a renowned linguist and conference interpreter. He interpreted principally between French (his

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

) and English, and vice versa; in addition, he was competent in both German and Dutch, and could also converse in several other European languages. Pilley was well known as an organiser and recruiter of simultaneous-interpreting teams for major international conferences worldwide, operating as the ''International Conference Secretariat''. In the 1950s, before conference venues had proper facilities for interpreters, Pilley developed portable equipment, consisting of microphones, headphones, wiring and associated electronics; this equipment could be moved from place to place, to provide temporary facilities for simultaneous interpreting during international conferences; Pilley named this equipment ''Archie'', after the famous ventriloquist's dummy. Pilley was a co-founder of the

International Association of Conference Interpreters The International Association of Conference Interpreters - AIIC (AIIC – Association Internationale des Interprètes de Conférence) was founded in 1953. It represents over 3,000 members present in over 100 countries. Overview AIIC is the only ...

, and of the

Institute of Linguists Founded as the ''Institute of Linguists'' in 1910, the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) received its royal charter in 2005, and is the UK's not-for-profit royal charter body for languages and linguists. CIOL supports linguists in their ...

. He was also the owner and principal of The Linguists’ Club, a language and social club in London. At The Linguists’ Club, Pilley established ''working parties'', an educational tool used to teach aspiring interpreters. Participants were first screened to establish both their language proficiency as well as their aptitude to the work; successful applicants were then trained in the art of professional interpreting. In his later years, Pilley was recognised as an ''Officier d’Académie'' by the French Government, for his services to France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilley, Teddy 1909 births 1982 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Interpreters Bletchley Park people Officiers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century translators 20th-century linguists Linguists from France French emigrants to the United Kingdom