French-Iranian writer, illustrator and director Marjane Satrapi has died in Paris at the age of 56 after a long creative career that gained worldwide fame.
The shocking news came from family members and close friends, who confirmed the absence of one of the most prominent artistic voices in support of human rights and women.
A statement issued by her fans and close ones explained that Satrapi passed away more than a year after the death of her husband and the love of her life, producer and screenwriter Matias Riba, who passed away on April 8, 2025, which had a profound impact on her psychological and health status during her last months.
Persepolis. From Tehran to the Oscars
Born in the northern Iranian city of Rasht, on November 22, 1969, Satrapi lived her childhood and early youth in the capital, Tehran, before her parents pushed her to emigrate to Europe to escape political restrictions.
She gained international recognition thanks to her iconic self-portrait novel Persepolis, which was widely critically acclaimed, as it recounts her struggle and growing up under the political and social restrictions imposed by Iran after the 1979 revolution.
Satrapi later adapted the novel into a feature animated film co-directed by director Vincent Barono, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and won the Jury Prize for co-production with Silent Light;
The film made history after being selected to represent France in the Best International Feature Film category at the 80th Academy Awards, and was nominated for Best Animated Film, making Satrapi the first woman in the history of cinema to be nominated for this category.
A Rich Cinematic Career
She has directed a series of critically acclaimed film and feature films, including the film adaptation of her novel Poulet aux prunes, the horror comedy The Voices starring Ryan Reynolds, and the 2019 film Radioactive, which features the biography of two-time Nobel laureate Marie Curie.