Documents Characterizing the Evolving Status of the “Informer” and “Sleuth” Vanka Kain (1741–1749)
3/2018
SUMMARY:
This is the publication of archival documents related to the case of Ivan Kain (aka Van’ka Kain), the mid-eighteenth century Russian criminal-turned-headhunter. The documents trace the evolution of his status from a pickpocket denouncing fellow felons to the authorities, to a sleuth working for the Moscow police, who was widely perceived as a government agent.