soeren aabye kierkegaard was born on may 5 1813 in denmark copenhagen. he is a philosopher theologian poet social critic and religious author who is widely considered to be the founding father of existentialism. he himself used the terms existential and existentialism in relation to his philosophizings his heartfelt view was that life and existence. the philosophical scene in europe and denmark in the mid-19th century was dominated by german philosophy and hegels ideas. fear and trembling is written as a sustained response to his ideas.
kierkegaards theological work focuses on christian ethics and he criticized church of denmark because he was frustrated with the hypocrisy of the danish church which led to him being hated by his own country at that time of his death. he was not really known outside of denmark at that time because he wrote his works in danish and his work become more appreciated after 19th century.