Peter Christian Kierkegaard (; 6 July 1805 – 24 February 1888), was a Danish theologian, politician and Bishop of

Diocese of Aalborg The Diocese of Aalborg (Danish: ''Aalborg Stift'') is a diocese of the Church of Denmark. It was established in 1554, during the reformation. Its episcopal see is at Budolfi Church, Budolfi Cathedral and Thomas Reinholdt Rasmussen has been the dio ...

from 1857 until 1875.P.C. Kierkegaard. ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' Retrieved November 1, 2020

Early life

He was born at

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

, Denmark as the son of (1756–1838) and his second wife Ane Sørensdatter Lund (1768–1834). His father was a wealthy wool farmer and real estate speculator. One of seven children, Peter Kierkegaard was the elder brother of theologian and philosopher

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

(1813–1855). In 1822 he graduated from the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and in 1826 he became

cand.theol. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

In 1829 defended his dissertation at the university of

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. He subsequently conducted a study trip to

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

(Louvain) and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The following years he supported himself by teaching classical languages at the Borgerdydskolen in Copenhagen.

Career

In 1833, he was appointed parish priest at Vejerslev-Blidstrup in Morsø Municipality. From 1842, he was parish priest for Pedersborg and Kindertofte at

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in east Denmark with a population of 8,433 (2025).

. In 1856 he was appointed Bishop of the

. As a theologian of the official

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church ( , or unofficially ; ), sometimes called the Church of Denmark, is the established, state-supported church in Denmark. The supreme secular authority of the church is composed of ...

, he had on several occasions criticized his brother's works, notably at the

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

conventions at Roskilde in 1849 and 1855. However, he later delivered the

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...

for his brother at Vor Frue Kirke.Kierkegaard, Søren Aabye ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved November 1, 2020 He was elected to the Landsting in December 1849. From 4 September 1867 until 6 March 1868, he was Kultus Minister of Denmark in the

Frijs Cabinet The Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs cabinet was the government of Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, ...

Personal life

In 1836, Kierkegaard married Elise Marie Boisen (1806–1837) who died childless the following year. In 1841, he married Sophie Henriette Glahn (1809–1881). They had one child, Pascal Poul Egede Kierkegaard (1842–1915).

Death

He died at Aalborg during 1888 and was buried in Almen Kirkegård. He was 82.

References

Sources

* Kirmmse, Bruce H.. ''Encounters with Kierkegaard: A Life as Seen by His Contemporaries'', Princeton University Press, 1996, . * Kierkegaard, Peter Christian. ''Samlede skrifter.'' København, K. Schønberg, 1902–1905. * Kierkegaard, Peter Christian. ''Exstaticus. Søren Kierkegaards sidste Kamp, derunder hans Forhold til Broderen.'' (Peter Christian Kierkegaards Foredrag i Roskilde Konvent 5. Juli 1855, gengivet af ham selv). Ved Otto Holmgaard. København, Nyt Nordisk Forlag, 1967. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kierkegaard, Peter Christian 1805 births 1888 deaths 19th-century Danish Lutheran bishops Kultus ministers of Denmark Danish Lutheran theologians 19th-century Protestant theologians Members of the Landsting (Denmark) Danish male writers Lutheran writers Politicians from Aalborg Søren Kierkegaard University of Copenhagen alumni