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Soren Kierkegaard Timeline
(May 5, 1813 – November 11, 1855)Life and Family
Birth of Søren Kierkegaard in Copenhagen
May 5, 1813
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard is born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the seventh and youngest child of Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard, a wealthy wool merchant, and his second wife Ane Sørensdatter Lund. He would grow up to become one of the most influential philosophers of the 19th century.
Image source: Søren Kierkegaard
Mother Ane Sørensdatter Lund dies
Jul 31, 1834
Kierkegaard's mother dies. By this point, five of his seven siblings had also died, contributing to the gloomy, melancholy atmosphere of his childhood home and his lifelong preoccupation with suffering, death, and Christianity.
Meets Regine Olsen at a family gathering
May 8, 1837
Kierkegaard meets fifteen-year-old Regine Olsen, who becomes the great love of his life. Their relationship profoundly shapes his emotional life and his authorship, as themes of love, sacrifice, and loss recur throughout his writings.
Image source: Regine Olsen
Father Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard dies
Aug 9, 1838
Kierkegaard's father dies, leaving him a substantial inheritance that allows him financial independence for the rest of his life. The death also deepens his sense of a religious mission inherited from his father's strict Pietist faith.
Image source: Søren Kierkegaard
Engagement to Regine Olsen
Sep 8, 1840 - Oct 11, 1841
Kierkegaard proposes to and becomes engaged to Regine Olsen. The engagement lasts barely a year; tormented by doubts about whether he could ever make her happy given his inner turmoil, he breaks it off, an event that haunts his entire authorship.
Breaks off engagement with Regine Olsen
Oct 11, 1841
Kierkegaard returns Regine's engagement ring and ends their relationship, though she remains devoted to him. The break devastates both and becomes the psychological catalyst for his burst of literary creativity in the early 1840s.
Spiritual crisis and 'the notes about my literary activity'
1848
In 1848 Kierkegaard experiences what he describes as a decisive religious awakening, feeling called to serve Christianity directly. He writes 'The Point of View for My Work as an Author,' clarifying that all his writing was aimed at introducing Christianity into Christendom.
Final reconciliation gesture toward Regine Olsen
Oct 1855
From his hospital bed, Kierkegaard writes to Regine Olsen, entrusting his papers to her and asking forgiveness for how he ended things decades earlier. She visits him once before his death, a poignant closure to their long, painful story.
Collapses in the street
Oct 2, 1855
Exhausted by the pamphlet campaign, Kierkegaard collapses on a street in Copenhagen and is taken to Frederik's Hospital. He refuses communion from a state church pastor, insisting he wants no part of official Christianity's sacraments.
Education and Early Writings
Begins studies at the University of Copenhagen
Oct 1830
Kierkegaard enrolls at the University of Copenhagen to study theology, though he also immerses himself in literature, philosophy, and aesthetics. His student years are marked by restless intellectual exploration rather than steady academic progress.
Image source: University of Copenhagen
Key Facts
- Kierkegaard was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 5, 1813, and spent nearly his entire life in that city.
- He is often called the 'father of existentialism' for his emphasis on individual experience, subjectivity, and personal choice.
- His major works include 'Either/Or' (1843), 'Fear and Trembling' (1843), 'The Concept of Anxiety' (1844), and 'The Sickness Unto Death' (1849), many published under pseudonyms.
- His broken engagement to Regine Olsen in 1841 deeply influenced his writings on love, sacrifice, and faith.
- Kierkegaard critiqued both Hegelian philosophy and the Danish State Church, arguing that authentic Christianity required a passionate, personal commitment rather than mere social convention.
Source
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