Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker known for Persepolis, 'dies of sadness' at the age of 56
Marjane Satrapi, pictured at the Rome International Film Festival in 2012, was an advocate for women's freedom in Iran. (AP Photo: Alessandra Tarantino)
In short:
Comic book artist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi is being mourned by the French arts community after her death at the age of 56.
Satrapi, who was born in Iran, was a committed advocate to furthering free speech and women's rights in her birth country.
She was most well-known for her graphic novel and film Persepolis, a coming-of-age tale set against the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Acclaimed Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, a prominent advocate for women's rights and the author of Persepolis, has died at 56, according to the office of French President Emmanuel Macron.
"Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure of French culture and an artist devoted to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim," the presidential office said in a statement on Thursday.
Mr Macron and his wife "pay tribute to a remarkable artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable", the statement said.
News broadcaster BFM TV and other French media reported Satrapi "died of sadness" a little over a year after the death of her husband, Swedish film producer and actor Mattias Ripa, citing a statement from people close to the artist.
Ripa died at the age of 53 on April 8, 2025, with no cause of death publicly revealed.
The French Academy of Fine Arts, of which Satrapi was a member, expressed its deep sadness in a social media statement,
It paid tribute to "a passionate advocate for cinema and film education" who earlier this year created a foundation to help international students come to Paris to study film.
Satrapi is best known for her monochrome autobiographical comic book and film Persepolis, a coming-of-age tale set against the Islamic Revolution in her native Iran.
Persepolis won the Film Critics Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and the César award for best adapted screenplay in 2008, in addition to being nominated for best animated feature at the 2008 Oscars.
The film, which details her life in Tehran as the strong-willed daughter of intellectual Marxists, is a reminder that Iranians are just like everyone else, Satrapi said during an interview at Cannes in 2007.
"What we wanted to say is, if these people scare you, look closer: They have parents, they have lovers, they have hope, they have stories,"she said.
Iranian authorities at the time protested the movie's inclusion at Cannes, sending a letter to the French embassy in Tehran.
Leaving Iran for Europe
Satrapi was born on November 22, 1969, in Rasht, Iran. But her parents sent her to Vienna in 1983 to finish her studies due to the extremism taking hold in their country following the 1979 revolution.
The move was short-lived, as Satrapi found Austria hostile and desperately missed her parents. She returned to Iran in 1989 to attend Tehran University, where she earned a degree in visual communications.
By the time she graduated, Satrapi had she was ready to leave Iran and accept the opportunities her parents had been so desperate to give her a decade before. In 1994, she moved to France, at first studying in Strasbourg then later moving to Paris.
One of Satrapi's paintings is on display at the Museum of the History of Immigration in Paris. (AP Photo: Remy de la Mauviniere)
Her graphic novels also include Broderies (Embroideries) and Poulet aux prunes (Chicken with plums), which was also adapted into a film. As a filmmaker, she directed several works including La Bande des Jotas (The Gang of Jotas) and Radioactive, a biography about the Polish physicist Marie Curie.
In 2023, Satrapi coordinated the book Femme, vie, liberté (Woman, Life, Freedom), together with a group of artists and academics, to illustrate the revolts that occurred in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 at the hands of the so-called "morality police".
The work denounces the repression and lack of human rights that members of Iranian society, especially women, suffer at the hands of the Iranian regime, her foundation said.
An 'essential voice' for freedom
Satrapi was elected as a member of the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2024. She was also offered France's highest award, the Legion of Honour, that same year.
But she declined it, arguing France was not doing enough to support Iranian people fighting for democracy.
"Supporting the women's revolution in Iran cannot be reduced to photos or speeches," she wrote in a letter to French authorities.
"When people are fighting for democracy, we should support them."
In 2024, Satrapi won the Princess of Asturias Foundation award in Spain for communication and humanities.
The organisation said she was "an essential voice in the defence of human rights and freedom", while the judges described her as "a symbol of civic engagement led by women".
On her Instagram page, only one message was left in a series of posts after her husband's 2025 death: "Because I have lost the love of my life."
AP/ABC