Born on February 27, 1826, in
Copiapó, the son of the Chilote mining entrepreneur and public figure,
Eugenio de Matta Vargas, and
Petronila María Mercedes Goyenechea de la Sierra. His siblings were: Pedro Nolasco, Francisco de Paula, Felipe Santiago, Guillermo and María Mercedes Matta Goyenechea. Although he was born in the northern city of Copiapó, he lived most of his life in the capital
Santiago, where he was educated. He entered the school of Mrs. Josefa Cabezón de Villarino, the Seminario Conciliar and later the
Instituto Nacional General José Miguel Carrera. He was also a student of
Andrés Bello, from whom he received private lessons. In 1841, when he was about to finish his law studies at the
University of Chile, his father, Eugenio de Matta Vargas, decided that Manuel Antonio should travel to
Europe, where he went when he was only eighteen years old. In the Old Continent he studied literature and
philosophy. During his stays in Germany, France and England he met important political intellectuals such as
Francisco Bilbao and
Santiago Arcos, who influenced his radical thoughts. He returned to
Chile in 1848. That year he exercised his literary talents writing the
Revista Santiago,
El Picaflor and
La Revista. The latter was discontinued in 1851 but returned to issue in 1855. He founded the
Fire Brigade of Santiago (on December 20, 1863) and was the first director of the Company of Guardians of Property (now the 6th Company of Fire Brigades of Santiago). He died single and without descendants. == Political life ==