“The world is not divided between East and West You are American, I am Iranian. We do not know each other, vet we can talk and understand one another perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much greater than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much greater than the difference between me and you. Our governments, however, are very much the same.” - Marjane Satrapi, Iranian graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi is an Iranian-born graphic novelist, illustrator, and filmmaker widely recognized for her acclaimed autobiographical graphic memoir, Persepolis. Born in 1969 in Rasht and raised in Tehran, she came of age during the dramatic events of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the ensuing Iran-Iraq War. As a teenager, she moved to Vienna to continue her education, an experience marked by cultural adjustment, isolation, and questions of identity. These formative years became the foundation for Persepolis, first published in 2000. The memoir chronicles her childhood in revolutionary Iran and her adolescence in Europe, offering a deeply personal perspective on political upheaval, family life, and the search for belonging. The book earned international praise and introduced many readers around the world to the realities of everyday life in Iran during a turbulent era. Satrapi later co-directed the 2007 animated film adaptation, Persepolis, which received the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.