Born into a cultured family in
Bucharest, his parents were physician
Eraclie Sterian and his wife Alexandrina (
née Gulimănescu); he was married to . From 1910 to 1917, Sterian attended the applied school of the society for the education of the Romanian people, followed by
Gheorghe Lazăr High School from 1918 to 1921. From 1921 to 1924, he studied at the philosophy and law faculty of the
University of Bucharest. He earned a degree
magna cum laude, with a thesis on the emotions and the
endocrine glands, applying a theory by
Constantin Ion Parhon. Also at Bucharest, he took a doctorate in public law, his dissertation dealing with copyright. From 1926 to 1929, he studied at the
University of Paris; Sterian's second doctoral thesis, in law and economics, had to do with Romania and
World War I reparations. In Paris, upon the recommendation of
Mircea Vulcănescu,
Ilarie Voronca, and
Benjamin Fondane, he worked for an insurance firm. In 1948, upon the advent of the
communist regime, he became a day laborer, followed by an accountant's position in 1950. In 1951, he began inspecting credit records at
Tecuci. He successively worked as an accountant in Bucharest (1953),
Balotești (1954), and at the state fruit and vegetable monopoly Aprozar (1956). In 1957 and 1963, he was head of external relations for the composers' union, holding a similar position at the geriatrics institute from 1964 to 1969. ==Notes==