The entourage of the famous Franco-Iranian comic book author and director announced her death on Thursday to AFP. Marjane Satrapi, 56, “died of sadness a little over a year after the death of her husband,” said her relatives. Emmanuel Macron hailed “an immense artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable”.
Published on: 04/06/2026 - 09:57 Modified on: 04/06/2026 - 18:01
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The Franco-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi, author of the immensely successful autobiographical comic strip "Persepolis", has died, we learned from those around her on Thursday June 4.
Marjane Satrapi, 56, had stayed away from the media for several months, after losing her husband.
“Marjane Satrapi died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life,” indicates a press release from her relatives sent to AFP. Producer, actor and screenwriter, Mattias Ripa died on April 8, 2025.
Hailing "an immense artist who had transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable", Emmanuel Macron sent his "emotional condolences" to the family and loved ones of the author.
“With her child's eye, her irony, her tenderness, her inner demons, the author created a moving world in which readers identified,” underlined the Élysée, which paid tribute to the imprint left by “Persepolis”.
A global success
Born in Iran, the artist spent her childhood and part of her adolescence under the Islamic Republic, before leaving her country to study in Vienna, then in France, which she joined in 1994.
A story that she tells in the famous comic strip “Persepolis” which enjoyed worldwide success when it was published between 2000 and 2003 in three volumes.
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This autobiographical saga will then be adapted for the cinema in 2007, with Vincent Paronnaud co-directing. The film will also be successful with the general public. He won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.
“Even if this film is universal, I want to dedicate it to all Iranians,” declared Marjane Satrapi, who has, in recent years, denounced the actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Franco-Iranian will try her hand at cinema several times, also adapting her album “Poulet aux prunes” (best album prize in Angoulême) on screen in 2011.
A committed artist
A complete and committed personality, fierce opponent of the Tehran authorities, Marjane Satrapi often spoke in the media to echo the voice of Iranian women, particularly during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising.
She also supported and participated in numerous demonstrations and defended Iranian artists imprisoned in her home country.
In January 2025, Marjane Satrapi even refused the Legion of Honor, denouncing "France's hypocritical attitude towards Iran". “For a while, I have really struggled to understand France’s policy towards Iran,” she explained on Instagram, regretting that “young freedom-loving Iranians, dissidents, artists, are being refused visas.”
“The refusal of the Legion of Honor is in no way an action or a thought against France. On the contrary, I deeply love this country of mine,” she said.
Her Instagram account bore traces of the grief caused by the loss of her husband in 2025. Spread across several posts, a message proclaimed: “I lost the love of my life”.
With AFP
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