[6][7] His father was a hairdresser and tobacconist of Lithuanian background[8] born in Tilsit, East Prussia (now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia).

[9] Trikojus attended Sydney Technical High School from 1916 to 1920 where he studied physics, chemistry, mathematics, history, English, German, woodwork, metalwork, and mechanical drawing.

[10] In that same year, he was awarded an 1851 Exhibition science research scholarship and chose to study at the University of Oxford under William Henry Perkin Jr. where he also rowed in the Queens College Eight.

From having a European father and spending time in those countries, Trikojus felt comfortable in the more-vibrant émigré communities in Sydney.

1936 marked a major shift in his interests when the head of his department, Prof. Charles George Lambie, published work on thyroid hormone metabolism.

These comments, which his colleagues later labelled as 'naive',[17] assumed far greater significance after the outbreak of war and, together with Trikojus' involvement in choosing German scientists to be brought to Australia by the government, resulted in accusations of being a Nazi sympathiser.

[17] His biographers Legge and Gibson note that "a number of members of Lisuscha's family were still living in Germany, and he may simply have been careful to avoid making any remarks that might conceivably affect them.

The Australian pharmaceutical industry was insufficiently advanced to produce critical drugs in the event of closure of sea-lanes for imports from Europe and the USA.

[19] On 17 January 1941, Trikojus was arrested as an enemy alien under National Security Regulations and spent 13 weeks in Long Bay gaol, then used as a temporary internment camp.

[20] The case against him was never made clear and Trikojus never spoke publicly about it, however his extensive connections to Germany, the years he lived there and his proficiency in the language may have led some to doubt his loyalties; there were also suggestions that internal rivalries at the University of Sydney, including his acrimonious relationship with Henry Brose,[21]: 54  had played a part.

He immediately resumed his duties lecturing at the university and coordinating methods of producing critical war drugs so they could be handed off to industry.

In 1948 Trikojus and his protégé F. J. R. Hird isolated and identified triiodothyronine (T3),[24] however this discovery is generally attributed to Rosalind Pitt-Rivers,[25] who read their paper but omitted mention of it.

Trikojus was well-liked by his colleagues and students, who found in him a courteous and compassionate authority figure with a legendary capacity for research, teaching, and administrative work.