The combinatorics of N.G. de Bruijn

In memoriam: N.G. de Bruijn. In this article we present a survey of his papers on combinatorics. The section titles show its variety. 1. Common systems of representatives 2. De Bruijn cycles 3. The De Bruijn–Erdos theorem from incidence geometry 4. Bases for integers 5. The BEST theorem 6. The De Bruijn–Erdos theorem from graph theory 7. Factorizations of finite groups 8. Rooted trees in the plane 9. Permutations of a given shape 10. Covering of graphs by dimers 11. Counting (Polya’s fundamental theorem, Color designs) 12. Penrose tilings