Elgar's Dorabella Cipher
The composer Edward Elgar sent a young friend a note of curly symbols. No one has ever read it, including her.
What was reported
On 14 July 1897, the composer Edward Elgar sent a short note written in 87 small, curly symbols to Dora Penny, a young friend from Wolverhampton. He later portrayed her in the 'Dorabella' movement of his Enigma Variations.
Dora never managed to decode it, and published it in her memoirs in 1937.
Explanations offered
Elgar loved puzzles and ciphers, and many have tried to solve the Dorabella cipher without a convincing result. It may be a simple substitution cipher, a private joke, or something only Dora would have understood. The Elgar Society has even run competitions to crack it.
- When
- 14 July 1897
- Where
- Wolverhampton, England
- Witnesses
- Dora Penny, the woman it was sent to
- Status
- Never solved
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