Dumitrașcu Cantacuzino was the son of the Grand Treasurer (Marele Vistiernic) Michael Kantakouzenos (in Romanian Mihai Cantacuzino) and the great-grandson of Michael Kantakouzenos Şeytanoğlu (in Romanian Mihai Cantacuzino Șaitanoglu), executed in 1578.
In 1663 he betrayed his kinsman and benefactor Constantine Kantakouzenos in favor of Grigore I Ghica.
He is then named three times to the throne of Moldavia by the Turks: Dumitrașcu Cantacuzino fled to Constantinople where he lived until his death in 1686.
He is, in Romanian and Moldavian history, the prototype of the "phanariote profiteur" who founded neither school nor hospice, only ruled 'for its exclusive benefit, acts unscrupulously and impoverishes the country.
From his union with a princess Roxandra he left three children including: