The French government gives out the Legion of Honour awards, to both French and foreign nationals, based on a recipient's exemplary services rendered to France, or to the causes supported by France. This award is divided into five distinct categories (in ascending order), i.e. three ranks: Knight, Officer, Commander, and two titles: Grand Officer and Grand Cross. Knight is the most common and is awarded for either at least 20 years of public service or acts of military or civil bravery. The rest of the categories have a quota for the number of years of service in the category below before they can be awarded. The Officer rank requires a minimum of eight years as a Knight, and the Commander, the highest civilian category for a non-French citizen, requires a minimum of five years as an Officer. The Grand Officer and the Grand Cross are awarded only to French citizens, and each requires three years' service in their respective immediately lower rank. The awards are traditionally published and promoted on 14 July.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of recipients of the Legion of Honour awards, since the first ceremony in May 1803. 2,550 individuals can be awarded the insignia every year. The total number of awards is close to 1 million (estimated at 900,000 in 2021, including over 3,000 Grand Cross recipients), with some 92,000 recipients alive today. Only until 2008 was gender parity achieved amongst the yearly list of recipients, with the total number of women recipients since the award's establishment being only 59 at the end of the second French empire and only 26,000 in 2021.
List of Légion d'honneur recipients by name
Recipient | Dates (birth – death) |
General work, and reason for the recognition | Award Category (Date) |
---|---|---|---|
Haakon VII of Norway | 1872 – 1957 | King of Norway (1905 - 1957) | Grand Cross |
Otto von Habsburg | 1912 – 2011 | European politician and the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary | Grand Cross (31 October 2008) |
Otto Hahn | 1879 – 1968 | German chemist (radioactivity and radiochemistry) | Officer (1959) |
Oskar Halecki | 1891 – 1973 | Polish historian, social and Catholic activist. | Knight |
Arthur Halestrap | 1898 – 2004 | British soldiers. Known for being one of the last surviving British soldiers of the First World War. | TBA (1988) |
Vahid Halilhodžić | 1952 – present | Former Bosnian football player and football manager (Paris Saint Germain F.C.) | Knight (14 July 2004) |
John Hall | 1795 – 1865 | British military surgeon of the Crimean War | TBA |
Harriet Hallowell | 1872 – 1943 | An American painter (Moret-sur-Loing, France). Recognised for her relief work caring for soldiers during and after World War I | TBA (1930) |
Alphonse Halimi | 1932 – 2006 | French Boxer | TBA |
Józef Haller de Hallenburg | 1873 – 1960 | Polish Army soldier (lieutenant general) | Grand Officer |
Lionel Halsey | 1872 – 1949 | Royal Navy officer and courtier. | Officer (15 September 1916) Commander (20 April 1917) |
Edward S. Hamilton | 1917 – 2006 | American army officer (World War II) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative (China, East Germany and Turkey). | TBA (2005) |
Alexander Hamilton-Gordon | 1859 – 1939 | TBA | |
Thomas T. Handy | 1892 – 1982 | United States Army four-star general | Commander |
Mohamed Haniff | 1937 – present | Deputy Mayor of Pondicherry during the French rule in India | Knight (Decree of 11 Juin 1937 attested on 5 Jan 1981) |
Tom Hanks | 1956 – present | American actor and filmmaker. Recognised for his presentation of World War II and support of World War II veterans | TBA (2016) |
Hector Hanoteau | 1823 – 1890 | French landscape painter | Knight (18 June 1870) |
Yuko Harayama | Japanese government administrator of science and technology support | Knight (2011) | |
John Hardress Lloyd | 1874 – 1952 | Anglo-Irish soldier and polo player. Recognised for his service in the British Army during the World War I. | Knight |
Moses Hardy | TBA | ||
Saad Hariri | TBA | ||
David A. Harris | TBA | ||
Walter Burton Harris | TBA | ||
Wesley Hart | TBA | ||
Arthur A. Hartman | TBA | ||
Stanley Harcki | 1898 – 2001 | Bridge engineer and United States veteran of World War I and World War II. | Knight (October 1999) |
John F. "Jack" Hasey | TBA | ||
Ahmad Y. al-Hassan | 1925 – present | Historian of Arabic and Islamic science and technology | TBA |
João Havelange | 1916 – 2016 | Brazilian ex-president of FIFA | Knight |
Václav Havel | 1936 – 2011 | Czech statesman, writer and former dissident. Known as the first President of the Czech Republic (1993 - 2003). | Grand Cross (March 1990) |
Baron Haussmann | TBA | ||
Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul | TBA | ||
Major General Mian Hayaud Din | 1910 – 1965 | Royal Indian Army officer. Known for commanding British troops supporting the French Army in Indochina (1945 – 1946) | TBA |
Michael Heidelberger | TBA | ||
Paul César Helleu | TBA | ||
Ray Henault | TBA | ||
Edward Henry | TBA | ||
Thierry Henry | TBA | ||
Pierre Hermé | 1961 | Pastry chef | TBA |
Daniel Hernández (painter) | TBA | ||
Lucas Hernandez | World Cup winning footballer | TBA | |
Major General Mark L. Hersey | U.S. Army | TBA | |
Jacques-Léopold Heugel | Music publisher | TBA | |
H. Kent Hewitt | 1887 – 1972 | American Admiral. Known for commanding the amphibious landings in North Africa, Italy, and Southern France during World War II. | TBA |
Paul Hewson, aka "Bono" | TBA | ||
René Alphonse Higonnet | TBA | ||
Pierre Hinzelin, Colonel | TBA | ||
Gustave-Adolphe Hirn | TBA | ||
Stanley Ho | 1922 – 2020 | Casino Mogul. Recognised for his generous philanthropic dononations. Known for laying the foundation for Macau's emergence as the world's biggest gambling destination. | Knight (1984) |
Lewis Hodges | TBA | ||
Frans van der Hoff | TBA | ||
Lucius Roy Holbrook | TBA | ||
Wilhelmina Holladay | TBA | ||
Sekai Holland | TBA | ||
Bruce K. Holloway | TBA | ||
James L. Holloway III | TBA | ||
Hans Reidar Holtermann | 1895 – 1966 | Recognised for his allied service in World War II | TBA |
Yvette Horner | French accordionist | TBA | |
Gérard Houllier | 1947 – present | Football manager | TBA |
Angus Houston | TBA | ||
Clark Howell | TBA | ||
Clarence R. Huebner | TBA | ||
Tom Hughes | TBA | ||
Victor Hugo | TBA | ||
Husain Bey, Crown Prince of Tunisia | TBA | ||
Francis Huster | 1947 | Actor | TBA |
James Hutchison | 1893 – 1979 | Principal British liaison officer with the French Resistance during World War II | TBA |
Robert Hutchison | 1st Baron Hutchison of Montrose | TBA | |
Joris-Karl Huysmans | TBA |
See also
- Legion of Honour
- List of Legion of Honour recipients by name
- List of foreign recipients of Legion of Honour by name
- List of foreign recipients of the Legion of Honour by country
- List of British recipients of the Legion of Honour for the Crimean War
- Legion of Honour Museum
- Ribbons of the French military and civil awards
- War Cross (France)
References
- Légion Code, article 16.
- Les étrangers qui se seront signalés par les services qu’ils ont rendus à la France ou aux causes qu’elle soutient, Légion Code, art. 128.
- ^ "France train attack: Chris Norman awarded Legion d'honneur". BBC News. 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- DM, Florey (29 March 2017). "Michelle Yeoh receives France's highest civilian honour". Cinema Online. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021. Alt URL
- ^ "The Grand Chancellery is co-producing a film on women and the Legion of Honor". The Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honour. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
- "Legion of Honour". Australian Government – Department of Veteran's Affairs. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- Wattel, Michel; Wattel, Béatrice (2009). "Les Grand Croix de la Légion d'honneur. De 1805 à nos jours, titulaires français et étrangers". Archives & Culture.
- Benoist, Chloé (18 December 2020). "Explained: Sisi, Macron and the dubious history of France's Legion of Honour". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
- "Otto von Habsburg Page" (PDF) (in German). Parliamentary group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats in the European Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
- "Orders of Merit". Official Otto von Habsburg. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017.
- "Otto Habsbourg s'est éteint à 98 ans" (in French). France 3. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
- M. & B. Wattel. (2009). Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur de 1805 à nos jours. Titulaires français et étrangers. Paris: Archives & Culture. p. 413. ISBN 978-2-35077-135-9.
- Spence, Robert (1970). "Otto Hahn 1879–1968". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 16: 302. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1970.0010.
- "The Legion of Honor for Vahid". Le Parisien. leparisien.fr-sport. 15 July 2004. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
- "Guide to Women's History Resources(Includes photo of Harriet Hallowell with soldiers in France during WWI.)". Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
- "No. 29751". The London Gazette. 15 September 1916. p. 9081.
- "No. 30029". The London Gazette. 20 April 1917. p. 3821.
- "Admiral Lionel Halsey". Royal Australia Navy. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- "Distinction Honorifique" [Honour]. Journal officiel des établissements français dans l'Inde [Official Journal of French establishments in India] (in French): 907–908. 10 July 1937. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- Mikelbank, Peter (17 May 2016). "Tom Hanks to Receive France's Highest Honor for His Work Highlighting World War II". People. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
- Roberts III, Faimon A. (11 May 2016). "National World War II Museum president and supporters Tom Hanks, Tom Brokaw to receive award in Paris". The New Orleans Advocate. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018.
- "Charles Auguste Octave Hector Hanoteau". National Archives - Léonore Database (in French). France. 18 June 1870. p. 1. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- "Yuko Harayama". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021.
- "John Hardress-Lloyd". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- "Mubarak For Lebanon Compromise". Goliath.ecnext.com. 26 March 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- Horner, Bill (III) (1 August 2021). "Chatham's Wesley Hart Set to be Awarded French Legion of Honor". Chapelboro. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- Gunderman, Mark (25 May 2000). "France honors local vet with highest award". The Chippewa Herald. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
- Shaw, Phil (17 August 2016). "Joao Havelange obituary: Former Fifa president and IOC member". The Independent. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- "Casino empire builder Stanley Ho dies at 98". The Standard. France. 26 May 2020. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021.
- "Yvette Horner gravit la Légion d'honneur, entre Fabien Pelous et le chef Anton !". www.purepeople.com (in French). Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
External links
- Official website
- Léonore database, census of recipients of the Legion of Honor (deceased before 1977), on the French Ministry of Culture website (in French)
- Code of the Legion of Honor and the Military Medal, Légifrance (in French)