New Delhi, June 12 -- The French-Iranian writer, artist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, who died on 4 June at the age of 56, was known for pioneering graphic novels like Persepolis (2003) and Embroideries (2005). In the 2000s, Satrapi was among the iconic comics artists (alongside Joe Sacco and Art Spiegelman), who were responsible for popularising the medium globally and raising its profile among literary critics and lay readers alike. Persepolis in particular became a breakthrough hit, a staple on university curricula worldwide. It tells the story of Satrapi's own childhood in Iran and youth in France, especially focusing on the changes sweeping through Iran in the late 1970s with the onset of the Islamic Revolution.

The reader sees the...