Marjane Satrapi, creator of Persepolis & noted French-Iranian artist, is dead

Paris: Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, acclaimed for Persepolis and her advocacy of women’s rights, has died at 56, the French presidency announced on June 4.

President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Satrapi, describing her as a remarkable artist whose work transformed her Iranian childhood into a universal story of freedom and resilience.

Satrapi gained international recognition through Persepolis, her autobiographical graphic novel and animated film depicting life during and after Iran’s Islamic Revolution. The film won the Film Critics Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.

Born in Rasht, Iran, on November 22, 1969, Satrapi moved to France in 1994 after studying in Vienna and Tehran. Her other notable works include Embroideries and Chicken with Plums.

A member of the French Academy of Fine Arts since 2024, Satrapi remained a prominent voice for democracy, human rights and wo­men’s freedom in Iran. —AP