He belonged to the generation of the pioneers of the Belarusian political renaissance. One of the founders of the Belarusian Revolutionary (Socialist) Hramada, contributor to Naša Niva, an organizer of the Belarusian masses, and an active leader in organizing the All-Belarusian Congress. Mikoła Šyła was arrested numerous times, as he used to say, "I count till ten, then I lose track of the number of arrests." Alter the partition of Belarus he lived in Western Belarus and was active in several organizations. Then during World War II he became active again and moved westward. Mikoła Šyła left many memoir-articles about the period. In the West the younger generation used to call him the "Belarusian Gandhi."
The Bulletin says "It only seems recently that Belarusians sang 'As long as Šyła, Hryb, Mamońka live, you will live also.'" Then it continues: "First Hryb passed away, Mamońka died in a Soviet concentration camp; now Šyła has passed away too. He tested tsarist, Bolshevik, and Polish prisons."
References: Apošnija Viestki, Braunschweig, no. 30, April 9, 1948; no. 29, April 6, 1948; Za jednaść, Saulgau, no. 1, April 15, 1948.