He is most known for his role as ataman and military governor of Semirechye during the Central Asian revolt of 1916 and his defense of the region from Kyrgyz rebels.

[1] Mikhail Alexandrovich Folbaum was born on 22 October 1866 in St. Petersburg to Russian German parents.

[2] Folbaum joined the Imperial Russian Army general staff when he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1893.

[3] In July 1905, while stationed in Kishinev, he was deployed to the port of Odessa to pacify a mutiny on the warship Prince Potemkin.

[2] After his term as mayor ended, he became ataman of the Semirechye region and commander of the 3rd Semirechensk and 6th Orenburg regiments.

[1] On 22 October 1916, his 50th birthday, Folbaum suffered a heart attack and died in the city of Verny (now Almaty, Kazakhstan).