Who were Søren Kierkegaard’s parents?

Written and fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Søren Kierkegaard was the seventh and last child of Michael Pedersen Kierkegaard, a wealthy businessman, and Ane Sørensdatter Lund, a household maid whom he first impregnated and then married within a year of his first wife’s death. His father’s stern piety, deep melancholy, and profound sense of guilt greatly influenced Søren’s life and writings.