 Matthias Bel was born in Ocsova, Kingdom of Hungary (now Očová, Slovakia) to Matthias (Matej) Bel Funtík or Bel-Funtík, a Slovak wealthy peasant and butcher.Little is known about his mother Elisabeth born Czesnek (, ) except she was very religious.He described himself as ""lingua Slavus, natione Hungarus, eruditione Germanus"" ("by language a Slav/Slovak, by nation a Hungarian, by erudition a German").