The French government gives out the Legion of Honour awards, to both French [1] and foreign [2] 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 [3] ), 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. [3] 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. [4] The awards are traditionally published and promoted on 14 July. [5]
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The following is a non-exhaustive list of recipients of the Legion of Honour awards, since the first ceremony in May 1803. [3] 2,550 individuals can be awarded the insignia every year. [5] the total number of awards was is close to 1 million [6] (estimated at 900,000 in 2021, [5] including over 3,000 Grand Cross recipients [7] ), with some 92,000 recipients alive today. [8] 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. [5]
| Recipient | Dates (birth – death) | General Work, and reason for the recognition | Award Category (Date) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Éric Tabarly | 1931 – 1998 | French Navy officer and yachtsman. Recognised for winning the 64th edition of the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race. | Knight [9] |
| Görgün Taner | 1959 – present | General Director of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV). Turkey commissioner during the Cultural Season of Turkey in France. | Knight (January 2011) |
| Louis-Alexandre Taschereau | 1867 – 1952 | 14th Premier of Quebec, Canada | |
| J. R. D. Tata | 1904 – 1993 | Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of Tata Group. Recognised for his contributions to Indian industry | TBA (1983) |
| Julia Catlin Park DePew Taufflieb [10] | 1864 – 1947 | An American who lived in France during World War I. Famous for turning her residence (Chateau d'Annel) into a field hospital (Note: First female American to receive this award). | TBA (1917) |
| François Tavenas | 1942 – 2004 | Canadian engineer and academic | Knight (1999) |
| Elizabeth Taylor | 1932 – 2011 | English-American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian. recognised for her philanthropic work in HIV/AIDS activism. | Knight (1987) |
| Maxwell D. Taylor | 1901 – 1987 | United States Army officer and diplomat | Knight Commander |
| Ludmilla Tchérina | 1924 – 2004 | Circassian princess, prima ballerina, actress, author and sculptor. | Officier (1980) |
| Vojin Tcholak-Antitch | 1877 – 1945 | Serbia senior army officer in the Royal Serbian Army and the Royal Yugoslav Army. Recognised for his actions during the Franco-Serb offensive, and the subsequent capitulation of Bulgaria. | TBA (1929) |
| Pierre Teilhard de Chardin | 1881 – 1955 | French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher and teacher. Recognised for his service in World War I as a stretcher-bearer in the 8th Moroccan Rifles. | |
| Joaquim Salvador Lavado Tejon (known as Quino) | 1932 – 2020 | Argentine-Spanish People cartoonist | TBA (March 2014) [11] |
| Nüvit Tekül | 1921 – 2005 | Professor of medicine from Turkey. | Knight (1982) |
| Charles Tellier | 1828 – 1913 | French Engineer | |
| Iran Teymourtash | 1914 – 1991 | Women's rights activist in Iran. | |
| Jean Victor Tharreau | 1767 – 1812 | French general, died at Battle of Borodino | |
| Florian Thauvin | 1993 – present | French professional footballer (Liga MX club Tigres UANL) | Knight (2018) [12] |
| Marie-Jo Thiel | 1957 – present | French ethics academic | Knight (29 June 2013) [13] |
| Kristin Scott Thomas | 1960 – present | English actress, also holding French citizenship. | |
| Mathilde Thomas | Cosmetics Entrepreneur | ||
| Harold Warris Thompson | 1908 – 1983 | English physical chemist, who served as chairman of the Football Association. | Knight (1971) |
| Joseph R. Thompson | U.S. Army World War II veteran | Knight (2012) | |
| Sir Henry Worth Thornton | 1871 – 1933 | Businessman and Railways Manager | |
| Jean Thurel | 1699 – 1807 | French soldier. Known for having an unusually long career that spanned 92 years of service [Note: One of the first to receive the award.] | Knight (26 October 1804) [14] |
| Germaine Tillion | 1907 – 2008 | French ethnologist [NOTE: One of the only five women ever received this award.] | Grand Cross |
| Alexis de Tocqueville | 1805 – 1859 | French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher, and historian. | |
| Jean Todt | 1946 – present | French motor racing executive and former rally co-driver | Grand Cross (2011) |
| Corentin Tolisso | 1994 – present | French professional footballer (Bundesliga club Bayern Munich / France national football team. | Knight (2018) [15] |
| Edward Tomkins | 1915 – 2007 | British diplomat | Grand Officer (1984) |
| Charles Hard Townes | 1915 – 2015 | U.S. physicist | |
| Mira Trailovic | 1924 – 1989 | Serbia dramaturg and theatre director (Serbian and Yugoslavia theatre). | TBA (1985) |
| Catherine Trautmann | 1951 | French politician (French Socialist Party) | |
| Constant Troyon | 1810 – 1865 | French painter of the Barbizon school. | |
| Louis W. Truman | 1908 – 2004 | United States Army officer | |
| Lap-Chee Tsui | 1950 – Present | China-born Canada geneticist | Knight (October 2007) [16] |
| André Tulard | 1899 – 1967 | Civil administrator and police inspector. [Note: An active collaborator with the Germans in World War II.] | |
| Jean Turcan | 1846 – 1895 | French sculptor who specialized particularly in public figures. | TBA (1888) |
| André Turcat | 1921 – 2016 | French test pilot (Chief test pilot of the first Concorde prototype) | Grand Officer (2005) |
| Adélard Turgeon | 1863 – 1930 | Canada lawyer and politician. | Knight (1904) Officer (1928) |
| John Joseph Turk | U.S. Army World War II Veteran | Knight (December 2013) | |
| Desmond Tutu | 1931 – present | South Africa Anglican cleric and theologian. Known for his anti-apartheid and human rights activism work. | Grand Officer (1998) |
| Nathan Farragut Twining | 1897 – 1982 | United States Air Force general | Knight Commander |
| Edward W. Tyre | 1924 -– 2021 | United States Army Air Corps pilot, 2nd Lieutenant, World War II veteran | Knight (April 2013) |
