Born in Prahova County, in a village on the Vărbilău River valley, he was educated at the seminary of the Buzău Diocese.
Left a widower, he entered a monastery under the name Iosafat, and for a time was an administrator at the Buzău Diocese.
[1] Iosafat was an active participant in the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, serving on a commission for freeing the Roma slaves.
As a result, he was forced to flee, first to Transylvania and then to Dobruja, where Metropolitan Dionisie of Proilavia ordained him archimandrite.
Iosafat ultimately settled in Paris, where he organized the Romanian community around a chapel at 22 rue Racine.