Marjane Satrapi

Like the heroine of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran in 1969 into a modern, progressive family. Her great-grandfather was the last emperor of Iran before he was overthrown in 1925. Satrapi attended the Lycée Français (French-language high school) in Tehran before being sent to Austria at age fourteen during the Iran-Iraq war. After returning, she earned a degree in art before moving to France, where her popular book, Persepolis, was published in French in 2000. Persepolis is a graphic memoir that blends the personal and the political. It’s the story of a child growing up in Iran during a tumultuous time in the nation’s history that included a war with Iraq, the overthrow of the shah, and the Islamic revolution. “The Veil,” included here, is the first chapter of the book.