 He was a Baron through his maternal grandfather, Count Stanislav Šilingas of Paberžė, who was exiled to Siberia and whose property and estate were confiscated by the authorities of the Russian Empire for his monetary support of the failed Uprising of 1863.Šilingas spurned the title using it only when it served to advance his country’s causes in giving him access to the Russian elite.He participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905, manning the barricades and even firing a pistol at the Imperial Russian Army.