Ion Nistor was a teacher, a historian, and a politician. His activity propelled him to the Romanian Academy. He studied in Cernăuți, Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Bucharest. He was involved in the cultural and political movement of Romanians in Bukovina. With the support of other Romanian leaders, he prepared the General Congress of the Romanians in Bukovina in the autumn of 1918, as well as the National Assembly. He drafted and read the Declaration of Union of Bukovina with Romania on 28 November, 1818. He was part of the Bukovina delegation that handed the Declaration of Union to King Ferdinand I.

After 1919 he continued his political career as a Member of the Romanian Parliament. He was also appointed Secretary of State for Bukovina. Subsequently, he was also co-opted in other governments, as Minister of Health, then Labour and later Cults.

After the establishment of the Communist regime, he was sentenced and imprisoned at the infamous Sighet prison between 1950 and 1955.