Born in Iaşi, Elias Schwarzfeld belonged to a family of intellectual prominence: his father B. Schwarzfeld was a poet and owner of a large book collection. The future writer, who was two years older than Moses, also had a sister, Adela Schwarzfeld-Wechsler (1859 – 1953), mother of Benjamin Fondane. Elias received his early education in the city's public schools, and while still a student, between 1871 and 1873, contributed to the Iaşi papers "Curierul de Iaşi" and "Noul Curier Român". Like his two siblings, Elias was raised within an intellectual environment shaped by "Junimea" literary society, his family being acquainted with several of "Junimea"s leading members.