Máté Hidvégi

Life

Hidvegi was born in Budapest, Hungary, on 9 November 1955. He studied, then taught at what is now Budapest University of Technology and Economics. After finishing university, he worked in the cereal industry and was co-developer of a patented feed advisory system based on near infrared ingredient data. Hidvegi was the pioneer in the development of technologies of mass-production and therapeutic use of instantized herbal extracts in Hungary. Between 1988-1990 Hidvegi was Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Grain Research Laboratory of the Canadian Grain Commission, Winnipeg, Canada.

Returning to Hungary in 1990, Hidvegi started to work for enterprises in the natural medicine industry. He worked on an anti-cholesterol pill, Esterin, which was soon patented and marketed worldwide. Also during these years, he assisted in the development various products (such as butter substitutes, weight-loss products, a line of herbal medicines, and partly, a nasal flu vaccine) for the health and food industry.

In 1996 Hidvegi was co-founder of Biromedicina (joint stock company), what is now called The First Hungarian Corporation for Cancer Research and Oncology. The company’s mission was to market Hidvegi's product Avemar, a fermented wheat germ extract-based nutraceutical.

Hidvegi holds a PhD and a Dr. Habil in chemistry, and an honorary professorship at the Jewish University, Budapest.

Early academic life

Hidvegi's first publications were about the theories of the origins of life, and the elaboration of a plausible mechanism for the biogenesis and evolution of biomembranes. He worked out the metabolic map as well as the reaction kinetics of a theoretical first living cell.

Development of Esterin

Hidvegi invented and hold the patent for the manufacturing process of an alfalfa-based extract (Esterin), which has been claimed to lower serum cholesterol levels (U.S patent 5,277,910 January 11, 1994).

Development of fermented wheat germ extract (Avemar/Ave)

Hidvegi is the co-inventor of a patented fermented wheat germ extract-based nutraceutical known as Avemar. In the U.S., Avemar is classified as a dietary supplement and marketed under the trade name Ave (American BioSciences, Inc.; Blauvelt, NY). In Hungary Avemar as a dietary food for cancer patients.

In 2009 Hidvegi marketed a new dietary food for special medical purposes for cancer patients based on the Avemar, which was sold as Oncomar and (in the U.S.) AvéUltra.

Works on cultural history

Hidvegi wrote the biographies of Rabbis Moshe Teitelbaum, Leopold Loew, Immanuel Loew, Adolf Loewinger, Alexander Scheiber, and the Bauhaus typographer Tibor Szanto. Hidvegi was the editor of the biography of Áron Márton (Roman Catholic bishop of Alba Julia, Transylvania, which has been officially included into the canonization files of Aron Marton by the Vatican) and the book The Lord by Romano Guardini, translated by Aron Marton with an introduction by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the present Pope). Hidvegi was also the editor of the official memorial volume of Blessed Sara Salkahazi, the Catholic nun who saved Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary, and were therefore killed by the Nazis in 1944. He wrote several authoritative essays about the Holy Sepulchre Basilica in Jerusalem, and the Medici Chapel in Florence. Hidvegi is a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre Jerusalem, Vatican and received The Alexander Scheiber Prize of the Minister of Culture and Education, Hungary in 2001.

Publications