Ioan S. Nenițescu (April 11, 1854–February 23, 1901) was a Romanian poet and playwright. Born in Galați, his parents were Ștefan Vasiliu, a manual laborer, and his wife Elisabeta (née Zaharia). After completing the Alexandru Ioan I commercial school in his native town, he finished high school, passing the exit examination at Iași. He also audited courses at Iași University's literature faculty. Nenițescu attended an officers' school, volunteered in the Romanian War of Independence and was wounded at Grivitsa. He then studied at the philosophy faculty of Berlin University, taking a doctorate in 1887 at Leipzig University with a thesis on Baruch Spinoza. He worked as a schoolteacher and inspector in Bucharest. He traveled south of the Danube, a trip that resulted in an ample "ethnic and stat