Marzan Satrapi, the Franco-Iranian writer, director, illustrator and activist who became world famous through the iconic "Persepolis", left life on June 4, as confirmed by the Palace of the Elysians. According to an announcement from her family to the French News Agency, died "of sorrow", almost a year after the loss of her husband, the Swedish actor, screenwriter and producer Mathias Ripa. The family did not give more details of the exact causes of her death, however her friends had reported in recent months that her mate's loss had devastated her.
In its announcement, the French Presidency spoke of a creator who "switched the world public with "Persepolis" and described it as "one of the most important forms of modern French culture, an artist devoted to freedom, whose work carried an ecumenical message and gave it international recognition.".
When "Persepolis" was released in the early 2000s, it did not only change the course of Satrapi's career. He also changed the way many in the West understood Iran. The country which until then was mainly presented through political analyses, geopolitical tensions and conflict images, suddenly acquired a more complex and human dimension. Through the memories of a girl growing up in Tehran of the Islamic Revolution and the war with Iraq, History ceased to be a distant event and turned into a experienced experience. "I am not a political analyst. I am a storyteller," she had stated in one of her most characteristic interviews. And that was exactly the starting point of her entire work.
He was born in 1969 in Rast, Iran and grew up in Tehran within an educated, politically active family. Her childhood coincided with one of the most troubled periods of modern Iranian History. As a child he attended the overthrow of the Shah, the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini regime and then the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq. She would later describe that time in her own characteristic way: "People believe that we only grew up inside the shell. Yes, there was fear. But there were also life, humor, music, party, family.".
When Marzan was 14, her parents decided to send her to Vienna, considering that she would have more freedoms and better prospects in Europe. The transition proved traumatic. She was suddenly found alone in a foreign country, away from her family, trying to balance between two different identities. "Exile is not romantic. It means losing your reference points," he would say years later. After her return to Iran she studied Visual Communication, but quickly realized that the country could no longer offer her the space of expression she was looking for. In the mid-1990s she settled permanently in France, where the second chapter of her life began.
She used to attribute much of her character formation to her mother. "He kept saying to me: “You have to invest in your mind, not in your appearance”. He wanted me to become an independent woman above all," he remembered. Shatrapi didn't dream of becoming a comic book creator. He even admitted that as a child he did not particularly love the species. "I didn't read comic books. There was no such culture in Iran. But when I found out, I immediately realized that it was the perfect means for me. I love writing and I love drawing," he said. In 2000 the first part of "Persepolis" was released. The autobiographical history of little Marzie, growing within the revolution, the Iran - Iraq war and the contradictions of adulthood, changed the way the West viewed Iran. It was no longer a country exclusively defined by news headlines, fanaticism, and geopolitics. It was a place full of people. "This book was a scream. I wanted to say, “Let me explain to you how things really were.” "Persepolis" sold millions of copies internationally and converted Satrapi into one of the most recognizable authors of Iranian origin in the world. The book's 2007 film transfer was awarded to Cannes and gave the creator a historical distinction as the first woman proposed for an Oskar of Best Film Cartoons. They followed the "Kentemas" (2003), "Kotopoulos with plums" (2011), illustrations, articles, scenes and in 2019 the film "Marie Curie: The woman who changed the world." However, no matter how much Satrapi expanded her work, people kept returning to Persepolis. "Everyone wanted the little girl. And I told them: the little girl grew up!", she commented.
In 2022, when Mahsha Amini succumbs to her injuries after being beaten by Iran's Vice Police for not wearing her "right" scarf, Shatrapi returned to the plan for the first time in nearly two decades. With the work "Woman, Life, Freedom", he gave voice to a new generation of Iranians who claimed the right to live without fear. "These young people are fearless. They want to be themselves inside and outside their home. They want to wear whatever they want, sing whatever they want, think freely," he said.
In recent years he lived in Paris, continued to write, design, and intervene publicly whenever he thought fundamental freedoms were at stake. It was contrary to both the compulsory handkerchief and its prohibition: "I have trouble making you wear something. But I also have a problem with being forced not to wear it." She believed that her main role as an artist was to remind something simple: that Iranians are human and not stereotypes. "We are not only pain, war and fanaticism. We're people. We like to laugh, fall in love, imagine strange stories" ◆