Michael 'Tarzan' Fomenko

Early life Sources differ as to the year that Fomenko was born. Some sources state 1930,

The October Revolution, aka Bolshevik Revolution (part of the Russian Civil War), was already a decade old by the time Michael was born, and their parents' social status reportedly caused issues for the family in the political environment. Michael was a natural athlete, according to ABC News, and excelled in the decathlon, "even being tipped" for the Melbourne 1956 Olympics at one point.

Decades later, in the 2010s, while trying to reconnect with her brother, Inessa painted him a pictured entitled "Corina, Corina", after one of his favourite songs from the 1950s. Fomenko, then 26 and described as a "bearded (..) district canecutter", had set out from the town of Deeral in the canoe on Wednesday 18 July 1956 bound for Cooktown, with a dinghy in tow. and on the same day, the Bundaberg News Mail also published an article about him entitled "Father Tells of "Tarzan" Son".

Journey to Dutch New Guinea In March 1959, Fomenko reportedly landed by canoe at the Lockhart River Mission, near the tip of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, where he was "cared for by the missionaries and staff members" of the facility.

He left (the Lockhart River Mission) a few days ago for T.I. and anticipates the journey will take three months. The bewhiskered "Tarzan" wears a lap lap of hassian, held up with a thick leather belt to which are attached two leather sheaths holding what appears to be daggers made from old cane knives. He has no other clothes, carries no food and there is no sail to his canoe, this appears to be a hollowed out tree trunk which he carved himself. His sole effects are a couple of drums of water and some spears. Several weeks ago he met the "Wewak" and the crew gave him sugar, rice and flour. The canoe, which is about 20ft long is fitted with an out-rigger made of rough hewn boughs. His father, who thinks Michael is leading a man's life, has asked that no publicity be given to his arrival on T.I. but the eyes of the south are focused on this man who is braving the elements in this life in the raw manner. Fomenko was reportedly "living with about 100 natives in a settlement on the southern tip of the island" and planned within the coming days to visit Thursday Island to buy some supplies, before continuing on to New Guinea, which lay some 100 miles more across the Torres Strait. He had paddled the canoe 126 miles across open sea, and having initially intended to reach the Solomon Islands, had been "blown off course by strong winds". A spokesperson for the Australian Department of Territories told the Canberra Times that it was "most unlikely" that Fomenko would even be granted permission to enter Australian New Guinea Territories anyway, as he would have to "conform to the usual requirements" to do so, and would be required to "hold a return ticket to Australia, have accommodation and employment or a bond to ensure that he would not become a charge on the Administration." He re-appeared in Hollandia in early February, apparently having spent the previous three weeks living in hills near the town. A spokesman reported that the Dutch authorities were arranging his repatriation to Australia,

"Tarzan" Fomenkounderweight and too weak to walk without assistancewas smuggled away from Sydney airport when he returned from New Guinea to-night. Bushy-haired, stubble-faced and gaunt, and wearing only a khaki shirt and trousers with sandshoes, Michael Fomenko talked for almost an hour with his father, Mr. D. P. Fomenko, in the overseas terminal's customs room before leaving. He had not seen his father, a Sydney schoolteacher, since he left home three years ago to begin his canoe journey from Queensland to New Guinea (..) Mr. Fomenko Senior told the Pressmen last night, "Michael is not well. He is very tired after his trip and cannot speak to anyone to-night. It might take several days for him to recover, maybe longer. We are taking him home to bed." A week later he was spotted at Armidale railway station waiting for a train to go north once more, this time to the Great Barrier Reef, "to see the places and do some hunting and fishing." Elizabeth Fomenko decided that her son needed help, and "set about having him committed." Renee, living in England at the time as a translator, planned to "eventually" write a book with her brother about his travels. Queensland's Director of Psychiatric Services directed that Fomenko's six month prison sentence would be better served at Ipswich Special Mental Hospital (aka Sandy Gallop Mental Hospital), located in the Brisbane suburb of Ipswich. Also in 2016, the Cairns Post placed Fomenko at Number 4 in its Top 50 Most Influential People list.

Move to a nursing home At some point in 2012, Fomenko disappeared from public life in the Cairns district, and online forums were "full of messages from residents, worried about whatever happened to the ageing bushman", according to the Cairns Post.

Death Fomenko died at Babinda Hospital on 17 August 2018, aged 88.

Physical description As part of a 2018 ABC radio documentary, Cairns locals were interviewed about Fomenko, and described his personality and physical description in soundbites: "He had a huge reputation in Cairns as just one of these great characters"... "y'know, you asked at shops, newsagentseveryone knew him"... "bronzed skin"... "aw, he was so fit"... "very tall, muscly sort of fella"... "about six foot something I suppose?"... "his hair blowing"... "hard to tell what age (he was)"... "sugar bag on his shoulder"... "knife and a tomahawk"... "he was always bare chested"... "but I liked him, he was quite a nice chap"... "so you know, he was one of those people who was everywhere and nowhere"...

Chris Wighton, a Cairns musician, who once gave Fomenko a lift in his car, recollected that "in the passenger seat where he had been sitting, was this perfect outline of him in soot and dirt and probably a couple of twigs too... the smell of the guy was not unattractive, it was like campfire and soot, but it wasn't a bad smell... earthy smell."

Jung research Harold Jung (born circa 1967), described by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2011 as "perhaps the most avid of Fomenko's devotees", died at some point prior to 2015 having collected twenty years' worth of documents, photos and interviews relating to Fomenko. Jung had become "quite friendly" with Fomenko over the years and had been intending to write a book about his life.

Following Harold's death, his brother Ingram Jung approached the Cairns Historical Society with his collection in the event they might have a suggestion with what to do with it. The Society put him in touch with author Peter Ryle, who combined the research with information from the National Archives of Australia to spend twelve months writing the book "Michael 'Tarzan' Fomenko: The Man Who Dared to Live His Own Exotic Dream", which was released in February 2016.

Over the course of his research, Ryle discovered that many of the tales which surrounded Fomenko, such as him tackling crocodiles and boars with his bare hands, had no evidence to support them, and notably the supposed connection with Russian royalty was found to have just been a "family allegation". Ryle continued "I learnt most of the stories told about him either didn't happen the way they were said to have happened or... there's no way to know if it happened at all". Ryle admitted, however, that "He did paddle to West Papua, which was then Dutch New Guinea, from the Daintree... it's still a great story."