Born in Bârlad, Cuza belonged to the traditional boyar class in Moldavia, being the son of Ispravnic Ioan Cuza (who was also a landowner in Fălciu County) and his wife Sultana (or Soltana), a member of the Cozadini family of Phanariote origins.
Returned during the reign of Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica, he became Moldavia's minister of war in 1858 representing also Galați in the ad hoc Divan at Iași.