Nemoianu was born on March 12, 1940, in Bucharest, Romania. His father was a lawyer. Of his two grandfathers one was a colonel in the military and conservative statesman, the other a medical doctor. The origin of both sides of the family was the Banat (a southwestern province of Romania), where Virgil Nemoianu spent his elementary school years and all summers until he was 20). These early years and the influence of his grandparents marked all his life with a deep commitment to Central Europe, its values, and its archaic and "idyllic" customs. In 1949 Nemoianu returned to Bucharest, graduated from the elite Titu Maiorescu High School in 1956 and obtained a college degree in English language and literature from the University of Bucharest in 1961. Many of his elder relatives (including his father) suffered longer or shorter periods of imprisonment at the hands of the Communist dictatorship. One uncle died in jail, another was executed.