ANTHONIE VAN LAAR was born in the Netherlands in 1923 and studied forest science at the University and Research Centre Wageningen between 1941 and 1949. In 1958 he emigrated to South Africa and obtained the D.Sc.degree in Forest Science at the University of Stellenbosch (1961) and thereafter Dr.oec.pub (1973) and Dr.hab. (1979) at the University of MA1/4nich. The theses dealt with forest biometry and growth modeling. Since his retirement in 1988 the author continued his involvement in these subjects, more particularly in growth models for Eucalyptus grandis.