PARIS (AP) 鈥� Acclaimed Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, a prominent advocate for women’s rights and author of 鈥淧ersepolis,鈥� has died at 56, the French presidency said Thursday.
鈥淗er 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,鈥� the French presidency said in a statement.
President Emmanuel Macron and his wife 鈥減ay tribute to a remarkable artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable,鈥� the statement said.
News broadcaster BFM TV and other French media reported Satrapi has 鈥渄ied of sadness鈥� a little over a year after the death of her husband, Swedish film producer and actor Mattias Ripa, according to a statement from people close to the artist.
The French Academy of Fine Arts, of which she was a member, expressed its deep sadness in a social media statement, paying tribute to 鈥渁 passionate advocate for cinema and film education鈥� 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 鈥淧ersepolis,鈥� a coming-of-age tale set against the Islamic Revolution in her native Iran.
鈥淧ersepolis鈥� won the Film Critics Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival in 2007 and the C茅sar 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 willful daughter of intellectual Marxists, is a reminder that Iranians are just like everyone else, Satrapi told The Associated Press in a 2007 interview in Cannes.
鈥淲hat 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鈥檚 inclusion at Cannes, sending a letter to the French Embassy in Tehran.
Satrapi was born on Nov. 22, 1969, in Rasht, Iran, but her parents sent her to Vienna, Austria, in 1983 to finish her studies because of the extremism in their country following the 1979 Revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power.
But Satrapi, who found Austria hostile and who desperately missed her parents, returned to Iran in 1989 to attend Tehran University, where she earned a degree in visual communications.
By the time she graduated, Satrapi decided she finally 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. She studied in Strasbourg and later moved to Paris.
Her graphic novels also include 鈥淏roderies鈥� (鈥淓mbroideries鈥�) and 鈥淧oulet aux prunes鈥� (鈥淐hicken with plums鈥�), which also was adapted into a film. As a filmmaker, she has directed several works including 鈥淟a Bande des Jotas鈥� (鈥淭he Gang of Jotas鈥�) and , a biography about the Polish physicist Marie Curie.
Satrapi in 2023 coordinated the book 鈥淔emme, vie, libert茅鈥� (鈥淲oman, Life, Freedom鈥�) together with a group of artists and academics to illustrate the revolts that occurred in Iran after at the hands of the so-called 鈥渕orality police.鈥� The work denounces the repression and lack of human rights that Iranian society, especially women, suffers at the hands of the Iranian regime, the foundation said.
Satrapi was elected member of the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2024. She also was offered France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor, that same year but declined it, arguing France was not doing enough to support Iranian people fighting for democracy.
鈥淪upporting the women鈥檚 revolution in Iran cannot be reduced to photos or speeches,鈥� she wrote in a January 2025 letter to French authorities. 鈥淲hen people are fighting for democracy, we should support them.鈥�
In 2024, Satrapi won the in Spain for communication and humanities. The organization said she was 鈥渁n essential voice in the defense of human rights and freedom.鈥� The judges described her as 鈥渁 symbol of civic engagement led by women.”
Satrapi’s husband died in April 2025 at 53. On her Instagram page, only one message was left in a series of posts: 鈥淏ecause I have lost the love of my life.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
