Bessarabia Governorate
Cătărău's origins and early life are shrouded in mystery. He was from the town of Orhei ("Orgeyev") or the nearby village of Marcăuți, both of them located in Russia's Bessarabia Governorate. The more detailed records show his birth year as 1888, naming his parents as Vasile Constantin and Alexandra. Romanian sources traditionally claim that Cătărău was not a member of the ethnic Romanian community, but rather a Bessarabian Bulgarian.