Arkady Harting

Arкadiy Mikhailovich Harting (; 29 October 1861 – after 1913) was a secret agent and officer of the Okhrana, the secret police of the Russian Empire. During his career spanning from 1879 to 1909, he served as a police informer, agent provocateur, officer and the Head of the Okhrana foreign service based in Paris. Born to a Jewish family, he was later baptised and at the end of his career was awarded the rank of Active State Councilor, which gave him the rights of nobility.

Early life Arkadiy Harting was born Aharon Hackelman on 29 October 1861 in Pinsk (now Belarus), to a Jewish family. In 1879, he became a student in Saint Petersburg.

Career

Police informer in Russia In Saint Petersburg, Hackelman joined the underground cell of the revolutionary terrorist organisation Narodnaya Volya and befriended many revolutionaries, including Vladimir Burtsev, a future counter-intelligence champion of the Russian revolutionaries. At about the same time, Hackelman was recruited by the Okhrana to spy on fellow revolutionaries. Information obtained from him led to a number of arrests, and some fellow revolutionaries became suspicious. According to the archive of the Paris Okhrana,