The scion of a minor aristocratic family from Târgoviște, he studied law and, as a young man, drew close to the Junimea circle and its patron Titu Maiorescu.

He began publishing fiction as an adolescent, and put out his first book of stories in 1903; his work centered on the fading provincial milieu dominated by old class structures.

In his later years, he became an outspoken anti-Semite and fascist, a stance that, following his country's defeat in World War II, gave way to anti-communism near the end of his life.

Born in Târgoviște, his parents were Alexandru Brătescu, a low-ranking boyar and the son of a pitar (bread supplier), and Alexandrina, daughter of Ion Voinescu, a major in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848.

At the same time, he audited the logic and history of philosophy course taught by Titu Maiorescu, entered Bucharest's Junimea circle, and in 1890 began contributing to its Convorbiri Literare.

[1] Brătescu-Voinești found life there rather constraining: he had to sell the Brătești property at a loss, and lived on the irregular income earned from lawyer's fees.

[3] The cumulative effect of these transgressions was to prompt the mentor to cut off ties that were never renewed, in spite of the younger man's attempts to restore relations.

[10] In 1913, he served as a platoon commander in the Second Balkan War; he was amused by the respect his troops showed due to his white hair, but also became a vehement pacifist thanks to the experience.

A declared follower of Mihail Eminescu's nationalism and an unreserved admirer of A. C. Cuza, he proudly called himself a "hooligan", praised Hitlerism and stood beside Ion Antonescu during World War II, backing racial laws and deportation of the Jews.

[18] Brătescu-Voinești was friends with Antonescu, who in March 1943 granted him an interview in which he thanked Germany for supporting his efforts to rid the country of parasites and internal enemies, and pledged to continue the fight until Jewish Bolshevism was eradicated.

[21] Concurrently, Scînteia and other newspapers affiliated with the party hurled copious epithets at the aging figure, denouncing his wartime collaborationism and printed output.