Originally a subject of the Russian Empire, he established his reputation as a lawyer and advocate of peasant welfare, also networking between the Bessarabian Gagauz, Romanians, and Bulgarians.

Topciu was absent during its March 1918 vote on that polity's union with Romania; by his own testimony, he assisted the Romanian expeditionary force, in his other capacity as the provisional leader of Bender Uyezd.

In tandem, he was a leader of the Agricultural Syndicate in Tighina County, a champion of the winemakers' corporate interests, and simultaneously a temperance activist, who spoke out against the consumption of Bessarabian moonshine.

Topciu was finally recruited by King Carol II into his catch-all National Renaissance Front, which resulted in his peak political activity, as Undersecretary of State for Agriculture in the Gigurtu cabinet (1940).

He was harassed and had to pay a fine for his involvement with the black market, also serving a short sentence in Caransebeș Prison; he lived his final decade in obscurity, at his new home in Bucharest.

He was acquainted with activist Gherman Pântea, who allegedly followed Topciu's advice when meeting with Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Russian Bolsheviks, in April 1917, to probe him about the far-left's views on the issue of national determination.

A 1926 note in Cuvântul newspaper had it that Topciu, "a native Gagauz, belonged back in 1917 to a Bulgaro-Gagauz soviet that had been set up in southern Bessarabia to fend off the Moldavians.

[13] Following a concurrent corporate election, the Gagauz-and-Bulgarians obtained five seats in the autonomous legislative council, Sfatul Țării, which subsequently became a parliament of the Chișinău-based Moldavian Democratic Republic.

[24] A February 1934 article by Ion Dimitrescu suggests that his political colleagues were much amused by his continued inability to speak proper Romanian—his "highly original" phonetics and his "boorish accent that's not yet fully polished" (accentul bocciu insuficient dat la tocilă).

In this capacity, he supported an alliance with the National Liberals for the August 1925 elections to the agricultural chambers—in contrast to other PP militants in Bessarabia, including his Gagauz colleague Guciujna.

[35] By the time of new elections in June 1931, he had rallied with the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND) list, or "National Union", emerging to take the third Assembly seat in Tighina, after Leon and Tancred Constantinescu.

[37] Commuting to Bucharest, in November Topciu helped form a cultural and political society called Agrarian Youth of Romania, which was chaired by Nicolae D.

In this capacity, he supervised the public consultation at Tighina's Capitol Cinema, during which his colleagues complained about the effects of the Great Depression and the overall unsoundness of debt relief policies imposed by the PND.

The PND leader and Prime Minister, Nicolae Iorga, noted on April 10, 1932 that Topciu and Sergiu Niță had been "beguiled" (smomiți) by Goga, and were abandoning the governmental arc altogether.

[43] The former Uyezd chairman headlined the PNA list in the Assembly election of July 1932, being described in Dimineața daily as "quite well-known in the villages, and surrounded by valuable men".

Elected one of its regional vice presidents (alongside Hagi Anton and Vladimir Cristi), he demanded that government place a ban on distilling cereals, as well as on the circulation of wood vinegar.

[55] During the proceedings, he also presented the only female affiliate—described by Cuza as "a Gagauz or Bulgarian woman, though I can't say for sure"; "the unfamiliar melody of her speech brought a smile to the faces of those sitting behind the podium.

"[56] Cuza and the PNC's Bessarabian leader, Constantin N. Tomescu, initially quarreled with Topciu, who, as an old-time agrarianist, "did not understand the need for a new rhythm of national struggle [and] did not want to submit to the strict discipline of Cuzist ideology".

The local National Liberal paper, Glasul Bucovinei, alleged at the time that they had engaged in electoral intimidation, including by temporarily "kidnapping" in Cacica the PNȚ candidates, namely Mihail Ghelmegeanu and Teofil Sauciuc-Săveanu.

Cuza viewed his Gagauz associate as fully compatible with the PNC doctrines, since these addressed all "Romanian minorities of the Christian faith, with the aim of fraternal cooperation in the name of the common good."

[6] Topciu's identification with Romanian Orthodoxy also surfaced in his sponsoring a law project to nullify Romania's Concordat, since this had afforded state recognition to Roman Catholicism.

[60] Meanwhile, Topciu's conflicts over agrarian issues has sparked a national controversy: in 1934, he accused Gurie Grosu, the Orthodox Metropolitan of Bessarabia, of having staged an illegal land grab in Bumbăta and Rezina.

[46] Topciu described the controversy as a one-man intrigue by Vladimir Croitoru, whom he expelled from the party in September; by then, Sereda had been confirmed as the PNC organizer in Bulboaca.

[71] Liberal democracy was ended within less than a month by King Carol II, who staged a self-coup and promulgated his authoritarian constitution, including a nominal ban on all parties.

[80] On February 11, the king reduced his offer, only assigning offices to Topciu and Istrate Micescu (the latter of whom refused all such appointments, in protest against what he saw as a marginalization of the Cuza faction).

[81] Topciu abandoned his Bessarabian properties on June 28, 1940, immediately after the region was stormed into and annexed by the Soviets; as Duminică notes, he feared arrest by the NKVD.

[79] Topciu lived out the remainder of World War II, which witnessed Romania's partnership with the Axis Powers on the Eastern Front and a temporary (1941–1944) recovery of Bessarabia.

As paraphrased by Universul daily, these advised Romanians to "support the efforts undertaken by our most patriotic Marshal Antonescu, who has committed himself to making Romania more beautiful and stronger.

[90] In April of that year, the Romanian People's Tribunals, which investigated war crimes, had issued an invitation for "D. Topciu of Bucharest, last known domicile at No 6 Tunari Street" to participate in an interrogation.

Specifically, he and other six people, including a Dumitru D. Topciu, who was his son,[43] were due to face trial for having allegedly trafficked "thousands of meters of silk" on the black market.