henrieta delavrancea was born on 19 october 1897 in bucharest, romania to maria lupaşcu and barbu ștefănescu delavrancea because her family was from the upper levels of society and her father was both a politician and a literary figure, delavrancea grew up surrounded by noted members of romanian society. one of those early mentors was ion mincu, one of the most known romanian architects and proponents of preservation of the nationalist identity for architecture. in 1913, she enrolled in the superior school of architecture, in a class of twenty, with only one other woman, marioara ioanovici. though she was one of the first women admitted, she suspended her studies in 1916 because of the war.