AFP reported on the 4th (local time) that Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian-French figure well known as the author of the autobiographical graphic novel <Persepolis> and as a film director, has died at the age of 56.

A close associate of Satrapi said in a statement sent to AFP that “Satrapi died in sorrow roughly a year after her husband and the love of her life, Mathias Ripa, passed away.” Her husband Ripa, a Swedish producer·actor·screenwriter, died on April 8 last year.

Satrapi spent her childhood under the theocratic system in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, studied in Austria as a teenager, and then returned to Iran. She later moved to France in 1994, obtained French citizenship in 2006, and publicly criticized the Iranian theocracy.

<Persepolis> is a work that tells the autobiographical story of Satrapi and was also adapted into a film. Through the eyes of its protagonist, Marji, it portrays the 1980 Iran·Iraq War, the religious oppression of the theocratic regime in Iran after the Islamic Revolution, and the impact of these events on women in Iran.

With the film adaptation of <Persepolis>, Satrapi won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was also nominated for the United States Academy Awards (Oscars). In addition, through works such as <Sewing Talk>, Satrapi captured Iranian culture and the lives of women.

She also actively expressed solidarity with the so-called ‘hijab protests’, which were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly and died under suspicious circumstances in 2022. In a 2022 interview with the Guardian, Satrapi described the hijab protests as “beautiful and moving,” adding, “Young people today are going through what I experienced. I hope it moves in the beautiful direction of freedom and democracy.”

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Speaking about the theocracy in Iran, Satrapi also said, “It is very important that such a system disappears,” while adding, “That cannot happen overnight.”

[Flat] A cigarette lit from the portrait of the Supreme Leader···‘The symbol of Iranian resistance’ is a feminist

Last year, calling French policy on Iran “hypocrisy,” Satrapi declined to accept the Legion of Honor Knight rank. She pointed out that, because of the French visa policy, dissidents seeking to leave Iran have been unable to enter France. At the time, Satrapi said in a separate video message, “While young Iranians who love freedom, dissidents, and artists are being denied visas, the children of the small ruling elite in Iran stroll through Paris and Saint-Tropez (resort city) without any problem.”

The office of French President Emmanuel Macron announced the death of Satrapi in a statement that day, saying, “The passing signifies the loss of a giant of French culture and an artist who loved freedom, who conveyed universal messages through works and received worldwide acclaim.”