Born in Vlad Țepeș, Călărași County, his parents Vișan Popa and Maria ("née" Cristea) were peasants. He attended the normal school for teachers in Călărași from 1921 to 1927, and from 1927 to 1938 was director of the primary school in Mîrzaci, Orhei County, in Bessarabia. Remaining in the province until the 1940 Soviet occupation, he edited "Cuvânt moldovenesc" magazine at Chișinău. He then moved to Bucharest, where he edited "Albina" magazine, "Căminul cultural" and "Școala țăranului" from 1940 to 1947; he also edited "Viața Basarabiei" there from 1940 to 1944. From 1948 to 1952, he headed the Al. I. Cuza popular athenaeum; from 1953 to 1956, he directed the Ștefan Gheorghiu cultural center.