A Year After Husband's Death, Persepolis Author Dies at 56

Marjane Satrapi, whose stark black-and-white panels in Persepolis reshaped how the world saw Iran's revolution, has died at 56, France's Elysee Palace has confirmed. The French-Iranian author, filmmaker, and activist was praised by the palace as "a leading figure in French culture" whose work bore "a universal message," per the BBC. Her breakout graphic memoir, first published in 2000, traced her childhood in Tehran under the post-1979 Islamic regime and her eventual exile in Europe. Its 2007 animated adaptation, which she co-directed, earned an Oscar nomination.

In a 2007 interview with the AP, Satrapi said she'd hoped that the movie based on Persepolis would show the world how similar Iranians were to other global residents. "What we wanted to say is, if these people scare you, look closer," she said at the time. "They have parents, they have lovers, they have hope, they have stories." AFP cites someone close to Satrapi as saying she died "of sadness" a little more than a year after the death of her husband, Swedish producer Mattias Ripa, per the BBC.

A fierce critic of Iranian authorities, Satrapi backed women's rights protests, led demonstrations in Paris, and said she'd received threats over her work and activism. She turned away the Legion d'Honneur award in 2025 over what she called France's "hypocrisy" toward Iran. Beyond Persepolis, Satrapi's films included The Voices, Poulet aux Prunes, La Bande des Jotas, and Radioactive, a Marie Curie biopic. Studiocanal UK remembered Satrapi as a "brilliant" artist whose "story of identity, freedom, exile, and resistance ... continues to resonate."