A journalist, musician, social activist, and Council of Europe expert. Until 1964, he led a nomadic lifestyle in a Roma caravan, with his parents. He was the leader of the band, Tamburyno. In 1986, he joined the International Auschwitz Council. In 2000, Stanisław ‘Stahiro’ Stankiewicz was elected vice-president of the International Romani Union, at the 5th World Romani Congress in Prague. He was elected President of the IRU at the 6th Congress in Lanciano in 2004, and again at the 7th Congress in Zagreb in 2008. In 2015, during the disputed 9th World Romani Congress held in Riga, delegates from 28 countries elected him as the president of the World Roma Parliament.