The Iranian-French graphic novelist had been mourning her husband, Mattias Ripa, who passed away in April 2025.

Oscar-nominated Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi dies ‘of sadness’ at 56 after losing husband

The Iranian-French graphic novelist had been mourning her husband, Mattias Ripa, who passed away in April 2025.

By Kathleen Perricone

on June 4, 2026 3:29 p.m. ET

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Marjane Satrapi in 2024. Credit:

BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty

- *Persepolis* author Marjane Satrapi has died at the age of 56, it was announced on Thursday.

- According to a report, the graphic novelist died "of sadness" after the loss of her husband, Mattias Ripa, in April 2025.

- In 2008, Satrapi became the first woman nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

*Persepolis* author Marjane Satrapi has died "of sadness," reports news agency AFP, just a little over a year after the loss of her husband, Mattias Ripa, in April 2025. She was 56.

A member of Satrapi's "close circle" told AFP the Swedish actor-producer had been "the love of her life."

Marjane Satrapi with her husband Mattias Ripa in 2012.

Venturelli/WireImage

On Instagram, the Iranian-French cartoonist spelled out her heartbreak on her grid: "For I Lost the Love of My Life Mattias" is typed out across nine tiles, the final one also featuring a photo of Ripa.

"Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure of French culture and an artist devoted to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim," the French presidency said in a statement on Thursday.

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The French Academy of Fine Arts, of which Satrapi was a member, hailed her as "a passionate advocate for cinema and film education" after creating a foundation to help international students study film in Paris earlier this year.

'Persepolis' by Marjane Satrapi.

Adam Berry/Getty

*Persepolis*, released in 2000,* *is a two-book series based on Satrapi's experience living in Iran and Austria during and after the Islamic Revolution.

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In 2007, Satrapi adapted the coming-of-age graphic novels for an animated film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and co-won the year's Jury Prize. The film went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, making Satrapi the first woman to be nominated in the category.

Satrapi also directed several films, including 2012's *La bande des Jotas* (*Gang of the Jotas*), based on her own screenplay; the Marie Curie biopic *Radioactive* (2019); and most recently, 2024's *Dear Paris* (*Paradis Paris*).

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