Kersten was born in Maastricht on 19 January 1789. For some years he worked as a teacher of Greek at a secondary school in the city. In 1821 he became the editor of the daily newspaper "Courrier de la Meuse", owned by Dieudonné Stas. A Catholic by conviction, in the Belgian Revolution Kersten was a member of a Constitutional Association in Liège that brought together Catholic and Liberal opposition to the government of William I of the Netherlands. In 1834 he left the "Courrier de la Meuse" to launch his own monthly review, the "Journal historique et littéraire". He also worked as a publisher and printer, particularly of liturgical books. He died in Liège on 5 January 1865.