ABSTRACT
With the death of Willem Jacob Luyten on November 21, 1994 at the age of 95, the astronomical community lost one of its most distinguished, productive and colorful members. His activity spanned over three quarters of a century in a variety of topics, but above all in the astronomy of position and of galactic kinematics. His personal productivity in the area of proper motions was unequaled, and with the advent of automatic measuring devices, may never be surpassed. His imaginative interpretation of the data he obtained provided an entirely new picture of the stellar composition of the Milky Way. His relations with others of his profession were often sparked by controversy, but throughout his career he remained a teacher to the young in the fullest sense of the word.
