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This article reviews the scientific contribution of Juan J. Linz to the field of elite studies, one of the research fields that he pursued the most enthusiastically along his intense academic life. Moreover, it explores the all of the factors – personal and intellectual motivations, the impact of maestros and their publications, as well as the circumstances or opportunities – that led him to choose this subject as a topic of study. This perspective, in which the empirical approach and the case of Spain were dominant, allowed Linz to make constant, even if discontinuous progress in his broader investigations. Further, reference is made to Linz’s intellectual legacy in this area of political science and sociology trough the writing of both former postgraduated students and «adopted students.»