Milan, 4 June (LaPresse) – The Franco-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi, who achieved international fame with her graphic novel and the film *Persepolis*, has died at the age of 56, her family confirmed on Thursday to France’s leading all-news channel, BFM. Born on 22 November 1969 in Rašt, Iran, Satrapi grew up in Tehran in a politically active family with distant Azerbaijani roots and descended from Shah Nasser al-Din. From a very young age, she was deeply influenced by her country’s history, which, with the 1979 Islamic Revolution, led to the establishment of Khomeini’s regime. Four years later, she began a period of exile when her parents sent her to Vienna to protect her from the growing Islamisation of Iran. Overcome by homesickness, she returned to her family, enrolled at the Tehran Academy of Fine Arts, before settling permanently in France in 1994, moving to Paris. Satrapi tells this story in Persepolis, her series of autobiographical black-and-white graphic novels, published between 2000 and 2003. The graphic novel was adapted into a feature-length animated film in 2007, directed by Vincent Paronnaud. Upon its theatrical release, the film was a huge success with both audiences and critics, winning the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the César Award for Best First Film and the César Award for Best Adapted Screenplay the following year.
Film: French media report the death of Marjane Satrapi, author of *Persepolis*
Milan, 4 June (LaPresse) – The Franco-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi, who achieved international fame with her graphic novel and the film *Persepolis*, has died at the age of 56, her family confirmed on Thursday to France’s leading all-news channel, BFM. Born on 22 November 1969 in Rašt, Iran, Satrapi grew up in Tehran in a politically active family with distant Azerbaijani roots and descended from Shah Nasser al-Din. From a very young age, she was deeply influenced by her country’s history, which, with the 1979 Islamic Revolution, led to the establishment of Khomeini’s regime. Four years later, she began a period of exile when her parents sent her to Vienna to protect her from the growing Islamisation of Iran. Overcome by homesickness, she returned to her family, enrolled at the Tehran Academy of Fine Arts, before settling permanently in France in 1994, moving to Paris. Satrapi tells this story in Persepolis, her series of autobiographical black-and-white graphic novels, published between 2000 and 2003. The graphic novel was adapted into a feature-length animated film in 2007, directed by Vincent Paronnaud. Upon its theatrical release, the film was a huge success with both audiences and critics, winning the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the César Award for Best First Film and the César Award for Best Adapted Screenplay the following year.
