Franco-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi, creator of 'Persepolis', dies at 56
The artist died 'of sadness' a little over a year after the death of her husband Mattias Ripa, her family said in a statement on Thursday.
Marjane Satrapi, the Franco-Iranian graphic novelist, illustrator and filmmaker who gained worldwide fame with the autobiographical comic and film 'Persepolis', has died at the age of 56. Her entourage confirmed the news to AFP on Thursday, stating she died 'of sadness' following the loss of her husband.
Marjane Satrapi died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life.
A life between Tehran and Paris
Born in 1969 in Rasht and raised in Tehran, Satrapi was the daughter of a progressive, politically engaged family. She witnessed the fall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic as a child. At 14, her parents sent her to study in Vienna to escape the growing repression. After a brief return to Iran, she moved permanently to France in 1994, beginning her career in comics. She became a French citizen in 2006.
'Persepolis' and a universal story
The black-and-white graphic novel 'Persepolis', published in two volumes between 2000 and 2001, recounts her youth in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and the subsequent Iran-Iraq war, as well as her painful exile in Europe. The work won a prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2001. Satrapi co-directed the animated film adaptation with Vincent Paronnaud; it won the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Another of her Iran-set albums, 'Chicken with Plums', won the best album prize at Angoulême in 2005 and was also adapted into a film in 2011.
Even if this film is universal, I want to dedicate it to all Iranians.
A fierce critic of the Iranian regime
Satrapi was a staunch opponent of the theocratic government in Tehran. In a 2023 interview with Corriere della Sera, she expressed admiration for the Generation Z protesters who took to the streets after the death of Mahsa Amini, saying the culture of patriarchal misogyny had fallen. She noted that over 80% of Iranians can now read and write, compared to 40% in 1979, and that internet access had changed everything for young Iranians.
Once you stop fearing the bully, he loses his power. If you punch him he might break your tooth, but you'll hit again because you've freed yourself: we are about to hit again.
Refusing the Légion d'honneur
In 2025, Satrapi refused the French Légion d'honneur to denounce what she called France's hypocritical attitude toward Iran, which was then experiencing a new wave of repression. She explained on Instagram that she had difficulty understanding France's policy toward Iran, lamenting that young freedom-loving Iranians, dissidents and artists were being denied visas. She stressed the refusal was not an action against France, a country she said she deeply loved.
Personal loss
Her husband Mattias Ripa, a Swedish economist, producer, actor and screenwriter whom she met in Paris over 30 years ago, died on 8 April 2025 at the age of 52. The couple had been together for 31 years. Satrapi's Instagram account bore the traces of her grief, with one post stating: 'I lost the love of my life.'
