Born in Tarnów, Austria-Hungary (now Poland), he earned his PhD from the University of Rome in 1929, then went to the University of Chicago where he was a professor of Assyriology until his death.
The reading of the first element in his name is uncertain, as Ignace Gelb and Benno Landsberger originally proposed BAR, giving Kidin-Ninua, "Under the protection of Nineveh," while Arno Poebel read the name as beginning with ŠÚ- and Weidner read it as ŠI- on another fragmentary copy of the kinglist.
Howe Gelb | Pierre-Ignace Aubert de Gaspé | Michael J. Gelb | Ignace-Michel-Louis-Antoine d'Irumberry de Salaberry | St. Ignace Mission | St. Ignace | Peter Gelb | Nicolas-Ignace de Beaubois | Michael H. Gelb | Joseph-Ignace Guillotin | Ignace Nau | Ignace Gelb | Ignace | Henri de Saint-Ignace | Arthur Gelb |