After spending his childhood in Cagliari and acquiring the gymnasium license, at the outbreak of World War II Pintor left Sardinia to reach Rome with his mother and two sisters,[1] where, shortly after, he learned of his father's death.

[2] He joined the Italian resistance movement in 1943 as a member of the Patriotic Action Groups, after learning that his brother Giaime was killed after stepped on a mine.

[3] After the end of the war, Pintor began his journalistic career at L'Unità, becoming co-editor-in-chief of the Roman edition.

In 1969, Pintor was one of the founders, together with Lucio Magri, Rossana Rossanda and Luciana Castellina, of the left-wing newspaper Il manifesto, where he was later appointed editor-in-chief from 1971 to 1975, from 1976 to 1978 and again from 1991 to 1995.

After the end of his political career, Pintor continued to write for Il manifesto until his death on 17 May 2003, at the age of 77.