Matthew von Ertfelda was a 33-year-old Restaurant Designer from Washington, D.C. when he competed on
Survivor: The Amazon. Born in Hong Kong and raised on a horse farm in Massachusetts, Matthew graduated with distinction from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and earned a culinary diploma with honors from L'École de Gastronomie Française Ritz-Escoffier in Paris. His adventurous spirit led him to cross the Darién Gap in 1994, track cannibals in unmapped areas of New Guinea, and dive for sunken treasure off Saipan. Speaking fluent Mandarin, he frequently conversed with Daniel Lue in Chinese during the game. Matthew's obsessive machete sharpening unnerved his tribemates, and despite winning key immunity challenges, he became the first finalist to lose in a landslide 6-1 jury vote to Jenna Morasca.
