This profile to mark the eightieth birthday of the psychologist Zdeněk Helus combines two literary genres: the testimony of a colleague and friend on the personal characteristics of the subject and an appreciation of his contributions to Czech pedagogic theory and educational psychologist. The author of profile looks successively at the following aspects of the life and work of Zdeněk Helus: 1. Chief of one academic department at the Comenius Pedagogic Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, 2. Author of academic publications, 3. Defender of the Child, 4. Teacher and academic functionary, 5. Reformer of the Czech educational system, 6. Defender of the teaching profession, 7. populariser of academic findings, 8. artist and literary publicist. Each of these views on the achievements of Prof. Helus is accompanied by references to his key publications.