He was born in an Aromanian family in Zagna, Vădeni, Brăila County, as his family had been deported to the Bărăgan by the Communist authorities because of their associations with the pre-WWII fascist Iron Guard.
While officially rejected, the writer was reportedly earning status in counter-culture and among dissidents: novelist and anti-communist activist Paul Goma recounted that deportees to the Bărăgan learned his texts by heart.