GoKawiilFrench-Iranian graphic novelist and illustrator Marjane Satrapi poses during the unveiling of an Olympic triptych tapestry created for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, designed from a drawing by Satrapi, at the Mobilier National (National Furniture) in Paris on March 12, 2024.
Franco-Iranian author and film director Marjane Satrapi, renowned for her graphic novel and film "Persepolis", has died aged 56, a year after the passing of "the love of her life", a member of her close circle said on Thursday.
"Marjane Satrapi died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life," they said in a statement sent to AFP.
Born in 1969 in Rasht in northern Iran, Satrapi arrived in France in 1994 and gained French nationality in 2006.
An outspoken critic of Iran's theocratic government, Satrapi's "Persepolis" recounts her early life in Tehran, struggling with restrictions imposed by Iran's Islamic leadership after the 1979 revolution before her parents sent her to Europe and she began a life in exile.
French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Satrapi, saying she was "a great artist who turned her Iranian childhood into a universal tale".
The films she directed included a 2007 adaptation of the graphic novel of "Persepolis" – co-directed by Vincent Paronnaud – which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar.
"Even if this is a universal film, I want to dedicate this prize to all Iranians," Satrapi said at the time.
"Marjane was an extraordinary artist and a charming woman who embodied the joy of creation and the sorrow of exile and painful memories. We mourn her this morning," Cannes festival supremo Thierry Fremaux told AFP.
'Her courage will resonate'
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