Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth is a German philosopher and founder of modern Matriarchal Studies. Her first magnum opus is Matriarchal Societies: Studies on Indigenous Cultures across the Globe (2013). She was visiting professor at the universities of Montreal, Canada, and Innsbruck, Austria, and is director of the independent "Academy HAGIA for Matriarchal Studies." She has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2005 by a Swiss and in 2007 by a Finnish initiative.