Born in Iași, her parents were Gheorghe Nădejde and his wife Ecaterina ("née" Băncilă); she was a niece of Ioan and Sofia Nădejde, as well as of Octav Băncilă. The couple's second child, she began her education at home under her older brother's supervision, and was privately educated until completing high school in 1907. Although she had shown an inclination toward literature, she entered the natural sciences faculty of Iași University, attracted by prestigious faculty members who included Paul Bujor and Ion Th. Simionescu. She graduated in 1911, and in 1914, she became a science teacher at Oltea Doamna girls' high school in Iași. In 1913, her brother, a combat medic in the Second Balkan War, had accidentally drowned, sending their mother into shock. She henceforth required diligent care, which Camelia took on, precluding a possible university career. In 1916, shortly after Romania entered World War I, her fiancé was sent to the front, where he was killed; she chose to remain celibate afterwards, in spite of her legendary beauty. However, she was briefly involved with writer George Topîrceanu, and was acquainted with Garabet Ibrăileanu and Mihail Sadoveanu.