Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Stela Popescu ki roto i te whanau o nga kaiako i te kainga o Slobozia-Hodorogea, Orhei. Ko tōna maharatanga tuatahi ko te
Te noho a te Soviet ki Bessarabia. I te tau 1940, i tukuna atu tana papa ki Siberia, ā, kāore ia i te mōhio he aha te mea i tupu ki a ia mō ngā tau 19. I te tau 1944, i te wa i noho ai te ope Whero ki Bessarabia, i muri i tana whakaoranga e te ope taua a Romania i te tau 1941, ka rere tana whaea me tana tamahine ki Brașov i Romania kore noa. I te tau 1953, i paahitia e ia te whakamātautau whakauru ki te kaareti ka tukuna ki te Kura Reo Ruhia "Maxim Gorki". I whakarerea e ia te akoranga i muri i te tau me te hawhe i te wa i uru atu ai ia ki te Whare Taonga o te Manatū o roto. I te tau 1956, i uru ia ki te Whare Wananga o te Whare Taonga me te Whakaata Ataata, i a ia e mahi tonu ana i te whare tapere.