Marjane Satrapi, the Franco-Iranian graphic novelist, artist, and filmmaker, died on June 4, 2026, in Paris at age 56. According to a statement from her loved ones, she died of grief just over a year after the death of her husband, producer and screenwriter Mattias Ripa, who passed away on April 8, 2025. Satrapi was best known for her autobiographical graphic novel series *Persepolis* (2000–2003), which chronicled her childhood in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution, the repression under the regime, and her exile to Europe. The series sold over a million copies in France and was adapted into an animated film in 2007, winning the Jury Prize at Cannes and two César Awards. She later worked in film and painting, exhibiting at Galerie Françoise Livinec in 2020 with a show titled "Femmes ou rien."
Satrapi's death marks the loss of a singular voice in contemporary visual culture, one that blended graphic storytelling, cinema, and political activism. Her work, especially *Persepolis*, became a global touchstone for narratives of exile, resistance, and women's rights under authoritarian rule. In recent years, she intensified her political engagement, coordinating the collective graphic novel *Femme Vie Liberté* after the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, and refusing the French Legion of Honour in 2025 in solidarity with repressed Iranian youth. Her legacy as an artist who fearlessly fused personal history with political critique will endure across comics, film, and fine art.