Born in Constanța to an Armenian-Romanian family, he was the brother of Arșavir Acterian and Jeni Acterian. Haig studied at the Mircea cel Bătrân High School in his native city, then attended the Spiru Haret National College in Bucharest. He made his literary debut in the school magazine, "Vlăstare", with pieces which caught the attention of his colleague, Mircea Eliade. Acterian befriended Eliade during their school years. It was also then that he has included him as a character in Eliade's debut work, the "Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent". After his stay in British India, Eliade dedicated his novella, "Isabel and the Devil's Waters", "To my friend Mihail and the blind woman Lalu" — Lalu being one of Eliade's acquaintances from Calcutta.