Prof. Aurelio Bairati passed away in Milan, in December 2017.

He was Professor of Histology and Human Anatomy at the University of Milan. His interest in research began in 1951, when, still a freshman in the medical school, he had the chance to work in Berne in the laboratory of Prof. F.E. Lehmann, who was, at that time, a pioneer of biological electron microscopy. In the 60s' of the last century, Aurelio Bairati was at the forefront of ultrastructural research in Italy, studying the organization of a variety of cells and tissues.

He published extensively on the ultrastructure of the male reproductive apparatus of *Drosophila melanogaster*, thus providing the basis for future studies which proposed this insect as a model for studying male gametogenesis. Later, he extended his scientific interest to the study of the structure of the human testis and spermatozoa in infertile patients. He made influential contributions to the study of the extracellular matrix of connective tissues in vertebrates and invertebrates from the structural and comparative point of view, combining polarized light microscopy, electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, morphometry, and biochemistry. He was a mentor for a large number of students in the field of electron microscopy and published over 200 scientific papers.

Prof. Bairati was a member of The Italian Society of Human Anatomy, The Italian Society of Experimental Biology, The Italian Society of Electron Microscopy, The Italian Society of Histochemistry, Unione Zoologica Italiana, Association des Anatomistes, The International Society of Matrix Biology, The European Microscopy Society, and was on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Ultrastructure Research.

He will be remembered as a passionate researcher, as a brilliant and, at the same time, unassuming scholar, and as a fair and generous leader.

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