Jonas Žilius-Jonila was born on 18 October 1870 in the village of Jurkšai [lt], then the Suwalki Governorate of Congress Poland.

[5] In 1918 he was the secretary of the executive committee of the Lithuanian Seimas in New York City, where he advocated for the recognition of Lithuania's independence.

He asked the Lithuanian government to send a strategist officer to work at the consulate, who would prepare a plan for the uprising.

"[7]Žilius-Jonila also reported to the Lithuanian intelligence that the occupying French troops and police of Klaipėda were preparing a defense of the city.

[9] According to Žilius-Jonila's memoirs, an anonymous Lithuanian captain leaked the revolt's plan to Gabriel Petisné [lt] one day before it began.