Irene Pipes (née Irena Eugenia Roth, also known as Irene Natalia Pipes née Rothstein) was born on November 28, 1924, in Warsaw, Poland, into a prominent Jewish family. Her father was a businessman associated with I.G. Farben, Europe's largest chemical company at the time, while her mother was celebrated as a beauty and recognized as the first woman to drive an automobile in Warsaw. Irene had a younger sister named Hanna, born two years later. Her early life unfolded amid the cultural richness of interwar Warsaw, but it was profoundly disrupted by the Nazi invasion and the Holocaust, which forced her family's immigration to the United States.

In the U.S., she married historian Richard Pipes in 1946. As a homemaker, she provided steadfast support to his academic career as a distinguished Harvard University professor specializing in Russian and Soviet history and an adviser to the Reagan administration on Soviet and Eastern European policy. While raising their family, including their son Daniel Pipes, a noted scholar and commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, the family established roots in the Boston area, living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Irene contributed to intellectual and cultural discussions surrounding Eastern European history and Jewish heritage.

Later in life, Irene Pipes emerged as a dedicated champion for fostering Jewish-Polish relations, working to heal historical wounds from World War II and promote mutual understanding between the communities. Her efforts reflected a commitment to reconciliation and cultural bridge-building. Irene passed away in 2023 at the age of 98 in Brookline, Massachusetts, leaving a legacy of resilience, familial devotion, and advocacy for cross-cultural dialogue.