Olimpia, a classics teacher, was a Graeco–Ottoman immigrant, whose parents still resided in Istanbul during the 1890s. Accounts differ as to he more distant ethnic origins, with some claiming that she was an Aromanian, and others a Romaniote Jew.Tatu, pp. 76–77 She was nine years younger than her husband, who, in his thirties, became seriously ill. According to one account, Ioan was Iovanaki's son in name only, conceived by Olimpia, a woman of outstanding beauty,Funeriu, p. 6 Sanda Cordoș, "Răsfățatul vitregit", Revista 22, Issue 1222, August 2013 with Henry C. Dundas, the British consul in Galați. Paul Cernat, "Senzaționalul unor amintiri de mare clasă", Observator Cultural, Issue 130, August 2002 Throughout his life, the writer was colloquially known as Englezul ("The Englishman").Magda Ursache, "Să revenim la argument!", in Confesiuni, Vol. V, Issue 38, January 2017, p. 10
