Dimitrie Drăghicescu was born on 4 May 1875 in the village of Zăvoieni, Vâlcea County, Romania.
In 1901 he left for Paris where he studied at the Collège de France where he studied with Emile Durkheim, Gabriel de Tarde, Henri Bergson, Theodule Armand Ribot.
He also attended the lectures organized by the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques.
During World War I, from 1916 to 1918 he lived in France where he was active in promoting the ideas of a national Romanian state.
On 9–12 April 1918 he attended the "Congress of Nationalities" in Rome with Nicolae Lupu and Simion Mândrescu, as members of the group supporting the right of Romanians to a state within their national ethnic borders and demanding the recognition of Romania as a cobelligerent country.