Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth is a mother and a grandmother. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy of science at the University of Munich where she lectured for ten years (1973-1983).

She has published on philosophy of science, and extensively on matriarchal society and culture, and through her lifelong research on matriarchal societies has become the founder of Modern Matriarchal Studies. Her main works are Matriarchal Societies: Studies on Indigenous Cultures across the Globe, (New York 2013, Peter Lang) in which she defines scientifically this new field of knowledge and provides a world tour of examples of contemporary matriarchal cultures; Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy in West Asia and Europe (New York 2022, Peter Lang) in which she uses her deep knowledge about matriarchal societies to review archaeological records and re-write the history of cultures.

She has been visiting professor at the University of Montreal in Canada, and the University of Innsbruck in Austria. She lectured extensively at home and abroad. In 1986, she founded the International Academy HAGIA for Modern Matriarchal Studies in Germany, and since then has been its director.

In 2003, 2005 and 2011 she guided three World Congresses on Matriarchal Studies in Europe and the U.S.A. She was twice a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2005 by a Swiss initiative, in 2008 by a Finish initiative.