Marjane Satrapi refused to be drawn in black and white

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Marjane Satrapi refused to be drawn in black and white

Today, Iran is in the grip of a transformation whose contours are still being defined. As it develops, the clarity of Satrapi’s perception will be missed

The world of Satrapi’s childhood, in an upper-middle-class milieu in Tehran, with left-wing parents who opposed the Shah, would be shattered by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Written by: Editorial

2 min readJun 4, 2026 09:20 PM IST

First published on: Jun 4, 2026 at 09:13 PM IST

In the 2000s, as a debate over banning the veil raged in France, Marjane Satrapi would not be drawn into the polarised media environment. The level of discussion was too low, she said, and her position wasn’t a simple one. “For me, prohibiting the veil and forcing it is the same,” she said in an interview. She could be as critical of Western forms of secularism and feminism, and their uncritical universalisation, as of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its morality police. Years later, during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests in Iran, she coordinated a collective effort to produce a book telling the story of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody and the subsequent uprising. Despite the graphic novel that catapulted her to fame, Satrapi, who died on Thursday aged 56, refused to be drawn in black and white.

The world of Satrapi’s childhood, in an upper-middle-class milieu in Tehran, with left-wing parents who opposed the Shah, would be shattered by the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Her experiences growing up in this new, dangerous Iran, including the execution of a favourite uncle, and navigating its new morality shaped the autobiographical work for which she is best known, Persepolis. In the later volumes, the curious little girl, Marji, grows up, through exile in Europe, a return to Iran, and exile again. Her goal, as she once put it, was partly “pedagogical” — to correct misconceptions about Iran, and tell Westerners that no, “the whole people of the country” weren’t “crazy”. The work went on to sell millions of copies worldwide.

In addition to graphic novels, Satrapi directed or co-directed several films, including the 2007 adaptation of Persepolis and a biopic of Marie Curie (Radioactive, 2019). She remained engaged with political activism in Iran throughout, praising the 2022 protests as a “feminist revolution”. Today, Iran is in the grip of a transformation whose contours are still being defined. As it develops, the clarity of Satrapi’s perception will be missed.