Helena was the daughter of King Géza II of Hungary and his wife, Euphrosyne of Kiev, a daughter of Grand Prince Mstislav I of Kiev by his second wife, Liubava Dmitrievna.

The only clear facts about her life are that at Pentecost 1174 she was married to Leopold V of Austria.

The marriage reflected the westward orientation of the Hungarian House of Árpád in view of the expansionist politics of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos.

Leopold's sister Agnes had already married King Stephen III of Hungary, Helena's elder brother who had died in 1172.

Helena and Leopold had issue; he died on 31 December 1194 as a result of a horse accident.