Mincu was born in 1852 in
Focșani, at the time in
Putna County,
Moldavia. He was the son of Pavel and Maria, and had three brothers and four sisters (one of them, Sultana, became the mother of
Duiliu Zamfirescu). He studied from 1863 to 1871 at
Unirea High School, in Focșani and from 1871 to 1875 at the
School of Roads and Bridges, in Bucharest, becoming an engineer. From 1873 to 1877 he served as chief engineer for Putna County, residing in Focșani. During that time, he also worked on the construction of the
Ploiești–
Predeal road (now part of the
DN1 road). As a recognition to his importance in the Romanian school of architecture, since 1953, the
Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest bears his name. From 1892 to 1912 he taught architecture and became one of the founding members of the Architecture School of the Romanian Architects Association. He was the teacher of
Toma T. Socolescu, another remarkable Romanian architect. From 1903 to 1912 he served as president of the Romanian Architects Association. From 1895 to 1899 he was deputy for Putna County in the
Parliament of Romania. High schools in Focșani,
Tulcea, and
Vaslui, as well as streets in Bucharest,
Cluj-Napoca, Focșani, and
Oradea bear his name. The house where Mincu lived is now the residence of the Order of Romanian Architects. ==Works==