Michael Schmidt-Salomon

Michael Schmidt-Salomon is a German author, philosopher, and public relations manager. He was born on 14 September 1967 in Trier. He is the chairman of the Giordano Bruno Foundation, a humanist organization that is critical of religion, and has been identified as Germany's "Chief Atheist." His books include the *Manifesto of Evolutionary Humanism: A Plea for a Contemporary Culture*, and *Die Kirche im Kopf* (*The Church in the Head*). His children's book *Wo bitte geht's zu Gott?, fragte das kleine Ferkel* ("Which is the way to God, please?, little Piglet asked") caused controversy for its depiction of religion. Schmidt-Salomon studied education sciences at the University of Trier, earning his master's degree in educational theory in 1992 and his PhD in 1997. From 1992 to 2001, he worked as a research assistant and lecturer at the University of Trier. His main focuses of work are science theory, anthropology, aesthetics, society theory, futurology, religious criticism and ideology criticism, as well as practical ethics. He began lecturing at the *Institut D'Etudes Educatives et Sociales* (IEES) in Luxembourg in 2002. From 1999 to 2007, Schmidt-Salomon was editor of the journal *MIZ (Contemporary Materials and Information: The Political Magazine for Atheists and the Irreligious)*. He has been CEO of the Giordano Bruno Foundation since 2006. He co-inspired Mina Ahadi's foundation of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims in 2007 and co-organized the Kritische Islamkonferenz in 2008 and 2013.