Afrikan Matriarchal Foundations: The Igbo Case

by Ifi Amadiume

93 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Dr. Ifi Amadiume (born 23 April 1947) is a Nigerian poet, anthropologist and essayist. She joined the Religion Department of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, U.S. in 1993.

Born in Kaduna to Igbo parents, Amadiume was educated in Nigeria before moving to Britain in 1971. She studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, gaining a BA (1978) and PhD (1983) in social anthropology. Her fieldwork in Africa resulted in two ethnographic monographs relating to the Igbo - African Matriarchal Foundations (1987), and the award-winning Male Daughters Female Husbands (Zed Press, 1987). A book of theoretical essays, Reinventing Africa, appeared in 1998.

She is on the advisory board of the Centre for Democracy and Development, a non-governmental organisation that aims to promote the values of democracy, peace and human rights in Africa, particularly in the West African sub-region.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Negasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful and important contribution to Black Unity, an investigation into specific details of traditional Igbo society that supports the great Diop's magnificent thesis on Black Africa's indigenous matrilineal character.