He graduated in Classics (lettere classiche) from the University of Padua, and became politically active during the years of the Nazi occupation of Italy, and was subsequently a leading member of the Italian Socialist Youth.
Maitan was actively involved in the large-scale student movement in Italy between 1969 and 1976, and widely seen as the main inspiration for leaders of the Italian revolutionary left, whether inside the Fourth International or outside.
In 1989, the Italian Fourth Internationalists organised around Lega Comunista Rivoluzionaria, which joined Democrazia Proletaria, and with DP participated in 1991 in the foundation of the Communist Refoundation Party, PRC.
Translated works include his 1976 book on the Chinese Cultural Revolution and a long text on the history of the Italian Communist Party, published by the International Institute for Research and Education in English and French.
In 2007 the Livio Maitan Study Centre was set up in Rome with the support of a large number of academics, including Gilbert Achcar, Daniel Bensaïd, Tariq Ali, Alex Callinicos, Claudio Katz, Michael Löwy and Slavoj Žižek.