'Persepolis' author, filmmaker Marjane Satrapi dies at 56

June 4 (UPI) -- French-Iranian Persepolis author and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi has died at the age of 56.

"Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure in French culture and an artist deeply committed to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim," France's Élysée Palace announced Thursday.

She wrote and directed an Oscar-nominated 2007 film adaptation of her renowned, autobiographical graphic novels about the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and its aftermath.

The cause and circumstances of her death were not immediately reported.

Her other films include Chicken with Plums, Gang of the Jotas, Radioactive and Dear Paris.

Satrapi's husband, writer-producer Mattias Ripa, died last year at the age of 52.

She was very active on Facebook May 14, but didn't post again after that.

"I am glad people talk about mental health more openly now. But I worry when every emotion becomes a diagnosis and every difficult person becomes 'toxic.' Sometimes sadness is sadness. Sometimes fear is fear," Satrapi wrote in one message.

"Sometimes a person is complicated, not a medical term. Language can help us understand ourselves. But it can also become another prison. My honest reaction? Learn about your mind, but do not reduce your whole soul to internet vocabulary."

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This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 9:11 AM.