EdsgerWybeDijkstra was one of the pioneers of ComputerScience and renowned for the insight that mathematical logic is and must be the basis for sensible computer program construction. He was a large force in developing mathematical methodology in ComputerScience and responsible for the idea of building operating systems as explicitly synchronized sequential processes.
It is only consequent that one of his most well known papers is GoToStatementConsideredHarmful, but he also wrote over thirteen hundred other works, all using the fountain pen rather than a computer, which are archived in digital form at http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD.
His eloquence and way with words is famous. Many concepts and phrases now common in computing originate from him: structured programming, separation of concerns, synchronization, semaphore, deadly embrace, dining philosophers, weakest precondition, guarded command, the excluded miracle. He may have been the one who first used the words "vector" and "stack" in a computing context with their now established meanings. Other quotations of him to demonstrate his sharp wit:
He was uncompromisingly critical of everything. Few of his known quotations are good words. Just look at some of them by following the BackLinks for this page.
Of note is that he was citizen of both the Netherlands, where he was born, as well as the US. His actual first name is Edsger, while in America he is often called Edgar.
5 pages link to EdsgerWybeDijkstra: