He came from a modest family, being the first child of the teacher Andrei Pârvan (with ancestors from Bessarabia) and of Aristița Chiriac (from Dobrenii Neamțului).

He finally arrived on the operating table, but it was too late to save his life; he died in Bucharest at age 45, in full creative power.

He attended primary education in Berești and high school studies at the Gheorghe Roșca Codreanu National College in Bârlad (1893–1900).

[2] He then studied at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Bucharest (1900–1904), having as professors Nicolae Iorga, Ioan Bogdan, and Dimitrie Onciul.

In Breslau he obtained the title of Doctor cum laudae, under the direction of Conrad Cichorius,[4] with thesis The nationality of merchants in the Roman Empire (1908, in German), considered by specialists as one of the best studies on the development of trade in classical antiquity.

In 1906 he joined as a "soldier of the right cause" in the Brotherhood of the Good Romanians (Frăția Bunilor Români) (organization created by Nicolae Iorga), starting to write for "Sămănătorul" and "Neamul Românesc".

In order to solve the problems related to the history of Dacia, he organized a series of systematic excavations, especially in the archeological resorts from the second Iron Age.

Based on the partial results of the excavations, Getica (1926) wrote – his most important work – a vast historical-archaeological synthesis, through which he brought to the forefront of historical research the political and cultural role of the Dacians; some shortcomings and exaggerations (including the emphasis on the role of the Scythians and Celts in the development of Geto-Dacian culture) do not detract from the value of this work.