PERSEPOLIS

By the same author Embroideries

PERSEPOLIS

MARJANE SATRAPI

JONATHAN CAPE
LONDON

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Published by Jonathan Cape 2006 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood was originally published in France in two volumes as Persepolis 1 and Persepolis 2 by L'Association, 16 rue de la Pierre Leve, 75011 Paris, in 2000 and 2001, respectively. First published in English by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc. and by Jonathan Cape in 2003. Translation copyright 2003 by L'Assoriation, Paris, France Persepolis: The Story of a Return was originally published in France in two volumes as Persepolis 3 and Persepolis 4 by L'Association, in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Persepolis 3 copyright L'Association, Paris, France 2002. Persepolis 4 copyright L'Association, Paris, France 2003. First published in English by Pantheon Books and Jonathan Cape in 2004. Translation copyright 2004 by Anjali Singh Marjane Satrapi has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser First published in Great Britain in 2006 by Jonathan Cape Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA Random House Australia (Pty) Limited 20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, Sydney, New South Wales 2061, Australia Random House New Zealand Limited 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland 10, New Zealand Random House (Pty) Limited Isle of Houghton, Corner of Boundary Road & Carse O'Gowrie, Houghton 2198, South Africa The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009 www.randomhouse.co.uk A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 9780224080392 (from Jan 2007) ISBN 0224080393 Papers used by Random House are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests; the manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin Printed and bound in Great Britain by William Clowes Ltd, Beccles, Suffolk

INTRODUCTION

n the second millennium B.C., while the Elam nation was developing a civilization alongside Babylon, Indo-European invaders gave their name to the immense Iranian plateau where they settled. The word "Iran" was derived from "Ayryana Vaejo," which means "the origin of the Aryans." These people were semi-nomads whose descendants were the Medes and the Persians. The Medes founded the first Iranian nation in the seventh century B.C.; it was later destroyed by Cyrus the Great. He established what became one of the largest empires of the ancient world, the Persian Empire, in the sixth century B.C. Iran was referred to as Persia its Greek name until 1935 when Reza Shah, the father of the last Shah of Iran, asked everyone to call the country Iran.

Iran was rich. Because of its wealth and its geographic location, it invited attacks: From Alexander the Great, from its Arab neighbors to the west, from Turkish and Mongolian conquerors, Iran was often subject to foreign domination. Yet the Persian language and culture withstood these invasions. The invaders assimilated into this strong culture, and in some ways they became Iranians themselves. In the twentieth century, Iran entered a new phase. Reza Shah decided to modernize and westernize the country, but meanwhile a fresh source of wealth was discovered: oil. And with the oil came another invasion. The West, particularly Great Britain, wielded a strong influence on the Iranian economy. During the Second World War, the British, Soviets, and Americans asked Reza Shah to ally himself with them against Germany. But Reza Shah, who sympathized with the Germans, declared Iran a neutral zone. So the Allies invaded and occupied Iran. Reza Shah was sent into exile and was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was known simply as the Shah.

In 1951, Mohammed Mossadeq, then prime minister of Iran, nationalized the oil industry. In retaliation, Great Britain organized an embargo on all exports of oil from Iran. In 1953, the CIA, with the help of British intelligence, organized a coup against him. Mossadeq was overthrown and the Shah, who had earlier escaped from the country, returned to power. The Shah stayed on the throne until 1979, when he fled Iran to escape the Islamic revolution. Since then, this old and great civilization has been discussed mostly in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. As an Iranian who has lived more than half of my life in Iran, I know that this image is far from the truth. This is why writing Persepolis was so important to me. I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists. I also don't want those Iranians who lost their lives in prisons defending freedom, who died in the war against Iraq, who suffered under various repressive regimes, or who were forced to leave their families and flee their homeland to be forgotten. One can forgive but one should never forget. Marjane Satrapi Paris, September 2002

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The Story of a Childhood

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CREDITS Translation of first part: Mattias Ripa Translation of second part: Blake Ferris Supervision of translation: Marjane Satrapi and Carol Bernstein Lettering: Eve Deluze Additional hand lettering: Cline Merrien T H A N K S TO L'Association David B. Jean-Christophe Menu Emile Bravo Christophe Blain Guillaume Dumora Fanny Dalle-Rive Nicolas Leroy Matthieu Wahiche Charlotte Miquel

PERSEPOLIS 2
The Story of a Return

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CREDIT Lettering: Cline Merrien

T H A N K S TO Emile Bravo Amber Hoover Jean-Christophe Menu Cline Merrien Anjali Singh