'Persepolis' author Marjane Satrapi dies at 56

French-Iranian writer and film director Marjane Satrapi, renowned for her graphic novel and film “Persepolis,” has died at 56, a year after the death of the “love of her life,” a member of her inner circle told AFP Thursday.

“Marjane Satrapi died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life,” read a statement sent to AFP.

Born in 1969 in Rasht in northern Iran, Satrapi arrived in France in 1994 and obtained French nationality in 2006.

An avowed critic of Iran's regime, Satrapi's “Persepolis” chronicles her youth in Tehran, her struggle against the restrictions imposed by Iran's Islamic leadership after the 1979 revolution, before her parents sent her to Europe and she began a life in exile.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Satrapi, saying she was “a great artist who turned her Iranian childhood into a universal tale.” 

Films she directed include a 2007 adaptation of the graphic novel of “Persepolis,” co-directed by Vincent Paronnaud, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar.

“Even if this is a universal film, I want to dedicate this prize to all Iranians,” Satrapi told AFP at the time.

“Marjane was an extraordinary artist and a charming woman who embodied the joy of creation and the sorrow of exile and painful memories. We mourn her this morning,” Cannes Director Thierry Frémaux told AFP.