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Michael Hidiroglou was born in Selefkia, Cyprus, on December 20, 1922, and died June 14, 2003, at the age of 80 in his home in Ottawa, Canada. Mike is survived by his wife Colette and children Michel Jr., Yann, Nick, Christine, and four grandchildren, all of whom reside in Ottawa.
Mike had a very full life as family head, specialist, worker, and traveler. Mike received his D.V.M. and B.Sc. degrees from the University of Paris, France. He spent 3 yr in the Belgian Congo and 2 yr in French Guinea as a research assistant. He was awarded the Medal of the French Academy in 1956 for his work on potassium and sodium metabolism of ruminant animals. During that period, his studies encompassed pioneering work on infectious diseases in beef cattle, such as mad cow disease and rabies. It is remarkable that Mike received very little formal training in the area of animal nutrition. It was his love and passion for the field that drove him forward until his death.
In 1960, he and his family moved to Canada. Mike joined the research branch of Agriculture Canada at the Animal Research Institute Kapuskasing, Northern Ontario. He worked there for 3 yr before moving to Ottawa, where he continued his research on mineral and vitamin metabolism in that city, as principal research scientist, for the next 33 yr. He was honored in 1974, first by the French Government when given the title of Officier dans l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole in recognition of his mineral research work, then by the French Academy for his work on selenium metabolism, for which he was awarded the Saint Yves Méard prize.
Mike published some 312 refereed journal articles (1956 to 1996), and from 1980 through 1996, received the following honors and awards for his outstanding contributions in the field of animal nutrition: the Silver Medal from the French Veterinary Academy, the Gustav Bohstedt Award (ASAS), the American Feed Manufacturer’s Award (AVMA), the Canada Packers Medal (CSAS), the Gold Medal from the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, a Merit Award from the Government of Canada; a Certificate of Merit from the Canadian Society of Animal Science, the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (C.E.F.) Award for Research Excellence, and the American Feed Industry Association Award (ASAS). Mike unwillingly retired in 1997, following the closure of the Center of Animal and Food Research Institute in Ottawa. Afterwards, he hoped he would continue his scientific quests at another institute, but that was not to be.
Anyone who worked with the nutrients selenium, vitamin E, vitamin D, manganese, potassium, and sodium would recognize the name of Mike Hidiroglou from the literature. Mike had the ability to conduct novel and basic research. The excellence of his fundamental and applied studies was well recognized. Some of Mike’s first studies were directed toward identifying the nature of selenium compounds occurring in dystrophogenic pasture grasses. The data obtained from this work contributed significantly to the identification of various types of selenium compounds in forages. Furthermore, it provided important new techniques for their isolation. Mike elucidated the influence of ruminal bacteria on selenium metabolism in ruminants, demonstrating the ability of microflora to metabolize inorganic selenium and selenoamino acids and to incorporate the element into microbial protein. He was the first to determine the metabolic fate of inorganic and organic selenium administered to sheep by various routes, and to identify the compounds formed as the ingesta passed through the gastrointestinal tract. Mike extensively studied the transfer of selenium from dam to offspring and identified excreted forms of selenium. Mike and his collaborator, K. J. Jenkins, were the first research scientists to discover that selenium reacts with sulfhydryl groups in proteins, forming selenotrisulfide compounds involved in the transport and storage of selenium. Mike discovered that the development of nutritional muscular dystrophy resulted in a marked decrease in coenzyme Q10 synthesis in tissues, indicating a relationship between the coenzyme and the selenium-deficiency syndrome. This work prompted several studies elsewhere on the involvement of ubiquinones in human muscular dystrophy and cardiovascular disease.
Mike worked extensively on the metabolism of vitamin D in ruminants. He studied the biokinetics of calcium metabolism in sheep, the transfer of vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 through the ovine placenta and in milk, the pharmacokinetics of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in sheep with osteodystrophy, the histopathology and kinetics of normal bone and bone affected by osteoporosis, and the effect of UV light on epidermal synthesis of vitamin D in cattle and sheep. He also devoted considerable attention to the analysis of vitamin D and its metabolites in ruminant blood. His research on vitamin D metabolism, particularly in cattle and sheep maintained under an intensive management system in northern climates, has augmented the knowledge required to make animal production practical under such conditions.
Mike conducted a series of studies on the basic causes of reproductive failure in manganese-deficient ruminants in order to elucidate the metabolic role of manganese in the reproductive tract. Finding the ovary to be a depot for radiomanganese, which suggested that manganese might have physiological significance in the ovarian cycle of the ewe, he showed that the level of manganese in the corpus luteum increased between d 4 and 11 of the estrous cycle, indicating a relationship between the trace element and the function of the gland.
Mike conducted extensive research in the area of vitamin E kinetics in ruminants. He made use of kinetic models to explain responses to supplemental vitamin E. The resulting research has greatly enhanced the knowledge of absorption, metabolism, and deposition of 
-tocopherol in the ruminant. Discoveries of note include the importance of the rumen in modifying the availability of vitamin E, as well as increased availability of the D isomer relative to the racemic mixture. In addition, Mike elucidated a role of vitamin E in the immune system.
Mike delivered numerous invited lectures on his research at various international institutions in France, Greece, the United States, Germany, England, Czechoslovakia, Brazil, and Argentina on the topic of metabolism of trace minerals and fat-soluble vitamins in ruminants.
It is little known that Mike was a brave and decorated soldier. Mike was a member of the Greek Army during World War II. On completion of his military service, he joined the maquis (underground) in France and became a resistance fighter. For his dedication to service, he received a commendation plaque from the president of the United States, which reads as follows: "The President of the United States of America has directed me to express to Michael Hidiroglou the gratitude and appreciation of the American people for gallant service in assisting the escape of the Allied soldiers from the enemy," signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower, General of the Army Commanding General, United States Forces European Theater. Mike also saved several British and Canadian paratroopers during that difficult period. He was subsequently made an honorary member of the Royal Air Force (Canadian Branch), when that branch found out about his war exploits. He also reenlisted in the Greek Army after World War II to fight communism in Greece.
Mike was a tireless research worker who lived and breathed vitamin and mineral studies. Although many of us will miss Mike, the influence of his work will continue, as will his memory to his many friends and colleagues. His family will always remember his generosity, big heart, honesty, integrity, wisdom, advice (whether it was sought or not), his concern for the well being of his wife, children, and grandchildren, and his perseverance toward scientific excellence.
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