Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay was a renowned Russian ethnographer, anthropologist, biologist, and traveler who studied the indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia, Australia, and Oceania, including the Papuans of the northeastern coast of New Guinea, known as the Maclay Coast.

There is a common misconception about his foreign roots. The family legend of the Scottish mercenary Mikael Macalay, who supposedly settled in Russia and became the founder of the lineage, is not true. In fact, Miklouho-Maclay came from an unremarkable Cossack family of Miklukh.

Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay was one of the first Europeans to explore remote Asian islands and created a detailed description of the local tribes. History has preserved many interesting facts about his life and research. Here are some of them.

In 1881, Maclay proposed the creation of a Papuan Union in New Guinea to counter European colonization. He repeatedly appealed to Tsar Alexander III and met with him in Gatchina in November 1882. It was planned that the Maclay Coast would come under Russian protection and become a base for the Russian Empire's Navy, which would lead to the cessation of English raids on this territory.

The Papuans called Miklouho-Maclay "Karam-Tamo," which means man from the Moon, or "Tamo-Rus," Russian man.

Legends circulated about Nikolai Nikolaevich's fearlessness. His resilience and courage often saved his life. The natives sometimes regarded him with suspicion, could threaten him with spears, and intimidate him with shouts, but Miklouho-Maclay always remained calm. Once, he creatively stopped warring natives by pouring alcohol into a bowl and setting it on fire, after which the Papuans rushed to his feet, begging him not to set the sea on fire.

Unfortunately, Nikolai Nikolaevich did not live long and passed away at the age of 41. After his death in 1888, his wife transferred her husband's archives to the Russian Geographical Society and moved to Australia with their children. Until 1917, the Russian government paid Margaret Miklouho-Maclay a pension of 5,000 rubles a year.