Born in Iași, Pintilie joined the labour movement as an apprentice at the CFR workrooms in Nicolina-Iași, and became a member of the then-outlawed PCR in 1926.
Between 1934 and 1937 he undertook important tasks in the leadership of CFR unions and was an active member of the anti-war movement, writing numerous articles in left-wing newspapers and magazines.
There, as an ethnic Romanian and a worker, he was the only rival for leadership of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who had made a name for himself in the Grivița Strike.
[1] Pintilie was killed when Doftana Prison collapsed during the 1940 Vrancea earthquake.
During the Communist period, a large number of streets bore his name, including Bucharest's Ilie Pintilie Boulevard, formerly Bonaparte Highway and called Iancu de Hunedoara Boulevard since the Romanian Revolution of 1989.