 Born in Dej (then Dés, Kingdom of Hungary), Șorban studied painting and music in Italy (at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan), Austria and Germany between 1930 and 1934.He then studied Law at the University of Cluj.Meanwhile, he exhibited his works of painting in art shows at Baia Mare and Cluj (1935), Bucharest and Baia Mare (1938), and again in Cluj (1939, 1942, 1943).