 Vian was born in 1920 into an upper middle-class family in the wealthy Parisian suburb of Ville d'Avray (Hauts-de-Seine).His parents were Paul Vian, a young rentier, and Yvonne Ravenez, amateur pianist and harpist.From his father, Vian inherited a distrust of the church and the military, as well as a love of the bohemian life.