Marjane Satrapi announced on 13 January that she would not accept the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest order of merit. ‘I cannot ignore what I see as a hypocritical attitude from France with regards to Iran’ [Je ne peux ignorer ce que je perçois comme une attitude hypocrite de la France vis-à-vis de l’Iran ] she said in a letter addressed to the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, and posted to the artist’s Instagram.
Born in Iran, Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator and film director best known for her graphic novel and its film adaptation Persepolis.
The Legion of Honour was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 to reward military officers and civilians for their service to the nation. Satrapi was named Knight of the Legion of Honour in July 2024 among a cohort of 521 French public figures including former prime minister Elisabeth Borne and Philippe Da Costa, president of the French Red Cross.
Satrapi announced her refusal prior to the awards ceremony taking place in January. She highlighted France’s ‘lack of solidarity with Iranians, especially with women and the Iranian youth, but also with fellow French citizens held hostage in Iran’ [manque de solidarité avec les Iraniens, surtout avec les femmes et avec la jeunesse iranienne, mais aussi avec [ses] compatriotes français retenus en otage en Iran].
