Key takeaways:
- Marjane Satrapi, the French-Iranian creator of “Persepolis,” died at age 56, the Élysée Palace confirmed.
- Agence France-Presse quoted a member of Satrapi’s close circle as saying she had “died of sadness” more than a year after the death of her husband, Mattias Ripa.
- “Persepolis,” first published in 2000, sold millions of copies and its film adaptation was nominated for the Oscar for best animated feature.
Marjane Satrapi, the French-Iranian author, illustrator, filmmaker and activist whose autobiographical graphic novel “Persepolis” brought her childhood in revolutionary Iran to a global audience, has died at 56, the Élysée Palace in Paris confirmed Thursday.
The French presidency called Satrapi “a leading figure in French culture and an artist devoted to freedom,” saying her work carried “a universal message” and earned her “immense international renown.” In another tribute, it said she was “a great artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable.”
Further details of her death were not immediately available. Agence France-Presse quoted a member of her close circle as saying Satrapi had “died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life.” Ripa, a Swedish producer, actor and screenwriter, died in April last year. A verified Instagram page for Satrapi published a series of posts in late April spelling out: “For I lost the love of my life.”
“Persepolis,” first published in 2000, follows a young girl growing up in Tehran during and after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution. The books depict Satrapi’s childhood under the restrictions imposed by Iran’s Islamic leadership, then her departure for Europe after her parents sent her away to begin a life in exile.
The series sold millions of copies and made Satrapi one of the best-selling Iranian authors in the world. The animated film adaptation, which she co-directed, was nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars eight years after the first book appeared. According to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Satrapi became the first woman nominated for an Oscar in that category. The film features Chiara Mastroianni as young Marjane and Catherine Deneuve as her mother.
“With her childlike perspective, her irony, her tenderness, and her inner demons, the author created a deeply moving world with which readers identified,” the Élysée Palace said.
Satrapi was also known as an outspoken critic of Iran’s theocratic government and a supporter of women’s rights. She supported protests for freedom and rights in Iran, including the Woman Life Freedom movement that followed the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by morality police over her hijab.
Satrapi told Deadline that her parents had protested the regime’s imposition of the hijab for women in 1983. “He was one of the very few men; they didn’t understand at the time that women’s rights are society’s rights,” she said of her father. She also said she had faced threats and slurs over “Persepolis” and her activism. “I’ve been called a liar and a spy. I’ve learned in life not to be scared,” she said. “It’s not that you don’t feel fear; you feel the fear, but then you decide whether you care about it or not.”
In 2023, she led a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Paris in solidarity with five Tehran teenagers arrested after posting a TikTok video dancing to “Calm Down” by Rema and Selena Gomez. “We artists must be humble but doing nothing is worse, being indifferent is worse,” she said.
Satrapi studied in Austria as a teenager at the Lycée Français de Vienne, later returned to Tehran, earned a master’s degree in visual communication from Islamic Azad University, and eventually moved to France to continue her education in Strasbourg. She gained French nationality in 2006. Last year, the BBC reported, she refused the French Légion d’honneur over what she called her adopted country’s “hypocrisy” in its dealings with Iran.
Her other films included “The Voices,” “Radioactive,” “Poulet aux Prunes” and “La Bande des Jotas.” Her other books included “Embroideries” and “Woman, Life, Freedom.”
Tributes followed the news of her death. Christiane Amanpour called Satrapi “a true artist and advocate for Iranian women and freedom,” while Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France regional council, described her as “a great artist, comics creator, painter, filmmaker, but above all a passionate and committed woman.”
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