Born in Botoșani, his parents were Anton Smolsky, a Polish uhlan lieutenant, later a shareholder in a petroleum company, and his wife Maria (née Moscovici).
From 1905 to 1906, he briefly took courses at the law faculty of the University of Bucharest, followed by Constantin Nottara's class at the Dramatic Arts Conservatory from 1906 to 1907.
His debut was the 1906 play Eroii noștri, published under is real name; the tragicomedy deals with the corrupted turn of the century youth.
[1] The tragicomedy called Amoruri anormale in its first version (1908–1909) premiered in 1916 as Patima roșie, with Elvira Popescu in the role of Tofana.
The 1933 novel O iubești?, endowed with an atmosphere of magical realism, features a protagonist without special abilities who, fascinated by a friend's creative talent, assumes his identity.