Born in New York City on 22 May 1927 into an affluent family, he was the second of three children of Erard A. Matthiessen, an architect and a trustee of the National Audubon Society, and Elizabeth Carey Matthiessen. Matthiessen spent much of his childhood in the rural areas of New York State and Connecticut, where his interest in the natural world was sparked. After graduating from the Hotchkiss School, he served in the United States Navy at the close of World War II and then enrolled at Yale University, where he earned a B.A. in English while also studying zoology and ornithology. During his junior year at Yale (1948-1949), Matthiessen studied at the Sorbonne, University of Paris, an experience that solidified his desire to become a writer. After returning to the United States, he began to write short stories, one of which was awarded the
Atlantic Prize in 1951, and after completing his college degree in 1950, Matthiessen taught creative writing at Yale for one year.
While teaching at Yale, he gained momentum as a writer, but that year marked an important change in his personal life as well. On 8 February 1951 he married Patricia Southgate, whose father was a diplomat.
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