Richard Matthew Stallman was born in New York City. From an early age, he demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for mathematics and science, hinting at his future contributions to the world of computer science. His early intellectual curiosity laid the foundation for his later work on software freedom and open source development.

While still in high school, Stallman gained valuable programming experience. He spent the summer of 1969 at IBM's New York Scientific Center, where he wrote a Fortran program for statistical analysis. Subsequently, he worked part-time at Rockefeller University, further honing his skills and exposing him to the academic side of computing. This early exposure solidified his passion for programming and helped him develop his distinctive coding style.