His father Ivan Stanovnik [sl] was a prominent member of the left wing of the Slovene People's Party and served as deputy mayor of Ljubljana.

[2] After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia, he became active in the Liberation Front of the Slovenian People and was imprisoned by the Italian regime in the annexed Province of Ljubljana between autumn 1941 and February 1942.

Between April 1944 and May 1945, he was among the organizers of the Partisan resistance in the Slovenian Littoral and was member of the regional national liberation committee.

Due to the political upheaval, he managed to use this largely ceremonial position in order to negotiate with the opposition groups, especially the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights during the Slovenian Spring.

Because of his support for a peaceful transition to parliamentary democracy, he was called by the press, somewhat ironically, "father of the nation".