Tomasz Bogumił Jan Światopełk-Mirski (1788-1868) fought in the Polish 1830 November Uprising near Suwalki and fled into exile in Paris, where he both represented the interests of the exiled Poles in France and attempted to seek pardon from the tsar. He became an active participant in the French colonization of Algiers, where he received a large grant of land and allegedly suggested the formation of the French Foreign Legion in order to reduce the burden of Polish exiles on the French state. He converted to Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism, and his fellow-Polish rebels regarded him as a traitor for his outspoken support of Pan-Slavism. Eventually allowed to return to Russia, he remained under house arrest there until his death. His sons Dmitry (1825—1899) and Nikolai (1833—1898) were educated as members of the Russian nobility and had distinguished military careers.