Born in Lipova, Arad County, in the Banat region, his father Ion Marian was a trader, while his mother Persida ("née" Șandor) came from Nădlac. After completing the Romanian-language primary school in his native town in 1842, he enrolled in the Minorite gymnasium of Arad. He finished six grades there, interrupting his studies for a year due to the 1848 revolution. He took grade seven in Timișoara and the final year in Pest, prior to entering the law faculty of the Royal University of Pest. While in the city, he frequently visited Emanoil Gojdu. He studied there for three years before transferring to the University of Vienna, from which he graduated in 1856. He received a doctorate in 1861 and settled in Lugoj, working as deputy notary. The following year, he became an assessor, which marked the beginning of his career in the magistracy; he worked in the town until 1869. Active within the Romanian Orthodox Church, he served the Arad Diocese in a lay capacity.