The life of Moritz Benewski is full of adventures and escapades worthy of a film adaptation. It all began with his participation in the anti-Russian uprising in Poland in 1768, after which he was captured and sent into exile in Kazan, where he lived with a local merchant. Benewski managed to escape to St. Petersburg, where, pretending to be an English merchant, he attempted to sail away on a Dutch ship with forged documents. However, the Dutch turned him over to the Russian authorities, and he was exiled to Kamchatka.

In the remote Bolsherechensk, Benewski devised a daring plan: to incite a rebellion among the convicts and seize a warship. Despite the apparent impossibility, the plan succeeded. The garrison commander was drunk, and the soldiers offered no resistance. The rebels intended to reach Japan, but the samurai refused to accept them.

Then Benewski directed the ship south and, after several months, reached French Mauritius. There, he quickly gained the trust of the governor and learned about the uncolonized Madagascar. Benewski proposed to the governor to send him there with a company of soldiers and ships, promising to make the island French. The governor agreed, and the local inhabitants offered no resistance, even recognizing Benewski as their king. He founded the city of Louisbourg, built a port and shipyards, and then set off to report back to Paris.

However, while he was on his way, a revolution broke out in France. Benewski decided to offer his services for the colonization of Madagascar to the United States. The French did not forgive him for this betrayal. They landed on the island, where Benewski had managed to arrive with the Americans, and began to storm the capital. As a result of the attack, Benewski, the king of Madagascar, was killed by a shell fragment.