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 Cathedral and Thomas Reinholdt Rasmussen has been the diocese's bishop s ...

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

Early life

He was born at

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

, Denmark as the son of Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard (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 Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...

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

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and in 1826 he became

cand.theol. Candidatus theologiæ (male), Candidata theologiæ (female), abbreviated cand. theol. is an academic degree with a long tradition, awarded after a six-year higher education in theology in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. In Norway, the title has re ...

In 1829 defended his dissertation at the university of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) 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. At the end of 2019, t ...

. He subsequently conducted a study trip to

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

(Louvain) and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. 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 Morsø is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Nordjylland in northern Denmark. The municipality is located on the island of Morsø or Mors, an island in the Limfjord, the sound that separates the island of Vendsyssel-Thy from the re ...

. From 1842, he was parish priest for Pedersborg and Kindertofte at

Sorø Sorø () is a town in Sorø municipality in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in east Denmark. The population is 7,999 (2022).

. 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, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

, 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 ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

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 or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a ...

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 The Kultus Minister of Denmark ( da, Kultusminister) was a Danish minister office. The responsibilities of the minister was the church, culture and education. The word ''kultus'' comes from ''cultus'', Latin for adoration from which the words cult ...

in the

Frijs Cabinet The Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs cabinet was the government of Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovere ...

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 Lutheran bishops Danish Kultus Ministers Danish Lutheran theologians 19th-century Protestant theologians Members of the Landsting (Denmark) Danish male writers Christian writers Politicians from Aalborg Søren Kierkegaard Danish Lutheran bishops University of Copenhagen alumni