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.
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.[5] The total number of awards 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 & reason for the recognition | Award category (date) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Babeș[9] | 1854 - 1926 | Romanian physician and scientist | Knight (TBA) | |
| John Tremayne Babington | 1891 - 1979 | Senior commander in the Royal Air Force | Knight (TBA) | |
| Andre Bach | 1888 - 1945 | TBA | ||
| Amitabh Bachchan[10] | 1942 - present | Indian actor. Recognised for his "exceptional career in the world of cinema and beyond".[11] | Knight (2007) | |
| Louis Bachelier | 1870 - 1946 | French mathematician. He is credited with being the first person to model the stochastic process now called Brownian motion. | Knight (TBA) | |
| Michel Bacos[12] | 1924 - 2019[13] | French pilot of Air France Flight 139. Recognised for refusing to leave his Jewish passengers behind, when captain of the terrorist-hijacked Air France Flight 139. | Knight (1976)[14] | |
| Absalom Baird | 1824 - 1905 | Union Army general in the American Civil War | ||
| Josephine Baker | 1906 - 1975 | American-born French actress and Resistance agent | Knight (TBA)[15] | |
| Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna | 1930 - 2016 | Indian Carnatic vocalist, musician, multi-instrumentalist, playback singer, composer, and character actor. | TBA | |
| James Arthur Baldwin | 1924 - 1987 | African-American writer & defender of human rights | ||
| Albert Ball | 1896 - 1917 | World War I British fighter pilot | ||
| Benjamin Ball | 1833 - 1893 | English-born French psychiatrist | Knight (TBA) | |
| Basile Baltus de Pouilly | 1766 - 1845 | General, French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars | ||
| Raffaello de Banfield | 1922 - 2008 | British-born Italian composer | Knight (TBA) | |
| François Barbé-Marbois | 1745 – 1837 | French politician | Grand Officer (1805) | |
| Jean-François Barbier | 1754 - 1828 | General, French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars | TBA | |
| John J. Barceló III[16] | American Law Professor | TBA | ||
| Van T. Barfoot | 1919 - 2012 | United States Army officer | TBA | |
| Karno Barkah | 1922 - 2009 | Indonesian aviation pioneer | TBA (28 February 1984)[17] | |
| Michael Barker[18] | Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics | TBA | ||
| Myron G. Barlow[19] | 1873 - 1937 | American painter. Recognised for his painting achievements. photo | TBA (1932) | |
| George Barnett | 1859 - 1930 | 12th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. He was a pioneer of amphibious warfare and the U.S. Marine Commandant during American involvement in World War I. | ||
| Denis Gabriel Barois | 1922 - Present | Delegate to the Superior Council of French Nationals Abroad (Mexico) | Knight (decree: 28 March 1997)[20] | |
| Théophile Barrau | 1848 - 1913 | French sculptor | Knight (1892) | |
| Charles Barrois | 1851 - 1939 | French geologist and palaeontologist | ||
| Jeanne Julia Bartet | 1854 - 1941 | French actress | ||
| Marcus "Stub" Bartusek | World War II soldier (United States), 106th Infantry Division (United States), 424th Regiment | Knight (ceremony: 9 October 2018)[21] | ||
| Dame Shirley Bassey | 1937 - Present | U.K. (Welsh) Singer | Knight (2003)[22] [23] | |
| 1898 - 1952[24] | French aviator. Her Knight rank was in recognition of her flight on 28 June 1931, a 2976 km journey from Le Bourget to Yurino (Russia) undertaken in 30 hours 30 minutes at an average speed of 97 km/h. Her officer rank was in reocognition of her flight aboard a Caudron 635 Simoun F-Anxo on 30 December 1936, which broke the record for crossing the South Atlantic in 12 hours 5 minutes. The commander rank was in recognition of her "exceptional war titles and acts of resistance". | |||
| Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière | 1759 - 1812 | General, French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars | ||
| Jean Baubérot | 1941 - present | French historian and sociologist (religions). He is Known for being the founder of secularism sociology. | Knight (TBA) | |
| Luc-Marie Bayle | 1914 - 2000 | French naval officer, painter, and artist | TBA | |
| François Achille Bazaine | 1811 - 1888 | French Army officer, who obtained the rank of Marshal of France (1863). On 22 July 1835, he was wounded in the battle of Macta (French: la Macta) of fires to the wrist, received a knight rank of France's Legion of Honour. On 9 November 1845, he was promoted to the rank of Officer, following the combat of Sidi Kafir. On 2 July 1863, his rank was upgraded to a Grand Cross. He received a citation at the battle of San Lorenzo | ||
| Pierre-Dominique (Adolphe) Bazaine known as Adolphe Bazaine-Vasseur | 1809 - 1893 | French Railway Engineer | ||
| Pierre-Dominique Bazaine | 1786 - 1838 | French Mathematician and Engineer | ||
| George Albert Bazaine-Hayter | 1843 - 1914 | French General. By decree on 9 September 1870 he rcieved the Knight for acts of war during the battles of Metz. During his command of the 12th regiment at Lạng Sơn, Tonkin (North Vietnam), he was upgraded to the rank of Officer by decree on 4 May 1889. On April 9, 1903, he was called to head the 57th Infantry Brigade in to defend the Nice group, and had his rank promoted to Commander on 3 September 1903. At the end of his career, just before being placed in the reserve section (4 December 1908), he was awarded the title of Grand Officer on 3 December 1908. | ||
| Paul Bazelaire | ||||
| Cecil Beaton | ||||
| Gérald Beaudoin | ||||
| Roger Beaufrand | ||||
| Thomas Beecham | ||||
| Azouz Begag | ||||
| Reginald R. Belknap | 1871 - 1959 | United States Navy rear admiral | ||
| Alexander Graham Bell | ||||
| Sir Francis Dillon Bell | New Zealand Statesman | |||
| Jean-Louis Bélard[25] [26] | ||||
| Monica Bellucci | 1964 - Present | Italian actress and model. In recognition of her cultural achievement in France. | Knight (24 November 2016)[27] | |
| Jean-Paul Belmondo | ||||
| Guillermo B. Belt[28] | 1906 - 1989 | Cuban diplomat | ||
| Arnaud Beltrame | Gendarme Colonel, Gendarmerie National (Award and promotion both Posthumous) | TBA (2018) | ||
| Charles Bequignon | ||||
| Józef Bem | ||||
| Edvard Beneš | ||||
| Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant | ||||
| François-Nicolas-Benoît Haxo | ||||
| Jean Béraud | ||||
| Henri Bergson | ||||
| Jean Berlie | ||||
| Louis Bernacchi | ||||
| Claude Bernard | Physiologist, founding father of modern physiology and endocrinology | |||
| Dominique Bernard | School teacher killed in Arras school stabbing by an Islamic terrorist in 2023 | |||
| Tom Bernard | Co-President and Co-Founder of Sony Pictures Classics | |||
| Étienne-Prosper Berne-Bellecour | ||||
| Sarah Bernhardt | ||||
| Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld | ||||
| Pier Luigi Bersani[29] [30] | ||||
| Louis-Alexandre Berthier | ||||
| Pierre Berthier | ||||
| Roberte Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough | ||||
| Jean-Baptiste Bessières | ||||
| 1827 - 1898 | Puerto Rican medical doctor, political leader and diplomat | |||
| Íngrid Betancourt | ||||
| André Bettencourt | ||||
| Jacques Claude Beugnot | ||||
| Bhumibol Adulyadej | King of Thailand | |||
| Marthe Bibesco | ||||
| Marcel Bigeard | ||||
| Kenneth W. Bilby | American businessman and author | |||
| Carl Bildt | ||||
| Pierre Billotte | ||||
| Émile Bin | ||||
| Maria Ilva Biolcati | Italian singer and actress | |||
| Wilfred Bion | ||||
| Sir Robert Bird, 2nd Baronet | ||||
| George Christopher Molesworth Birdwood | ||||
| Billy Bishop | ||||
| Harry Gore Bishop | ||||
| Monique de Bissy | ||||
| Henri Biva | 1848 - 1929 | French painter | Knight (1900) | |
| George G. Blackburn | ||||
| Alice Guy-Blaché | Cinema pioneer | |||
| Sergent Blandan | ||||
| Tasker H. Bliss | ||||
| Denise Bloch | ||||
| Marc Bloch | ||||
| Marc Boegner | ||||
| Jean-Bédel Bokassa | ||||
| Albina du Boisrouvray | ||||
| Petar Bojović | ||||
| Claude Bolling | ||||
| Kathryne Bomberger | ||||
| Marie-Claude Bomsel | ||||
| Napoleon Bonaparte | Founder of the Légion d'honneur | |||
| Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon VI) | ||||
| Bono | ||||
| Jorge Luis Borges | ||||
| Frank Borland | ||||
| Władysław Bortnowski | ||||
| Alfred Bossom | ||||
| Lucien Bouchard | ||||
| Georges Ernest Boulanger | ||||
| Gustave Boulanger | TBA (1868) | |||
| Pierre Boulle | ||||
| Jean-Gustave Bourbouze | ||||
| Antoine Bourseiller | ||||
| Paul-Émile Boutigny | Painter of military subjects | |||
| Victor Boutilly[31] | 1864 - 1934 | French forestry inspector | TBA (1911) | |
| Frank Henry Bowater | ||||
| Maurice Bowra | ||||
| Charles Boyer | ||||
| Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński | ||||
| Ali Bozer | ||||
| Olga Boznańska | ||||
| Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee | Vice President At-Large of The Washington Post | |||
| Jean Branger[32] | Captain, 8th infantry regiment | Knight (26 December 1852) | ||
| Lloyd Samuel Breadner | ||||
| Théophile Marie Brébant | ||||
| Yves Bréchet | ||||
| Annie Brewer | ||||
| Francis Charles Bridgeman Bridgeman | ||||
| Louis Brière de l'Isle | General, Troupes de marine | |||
| Donald F. Breitenberg[33] | USA World War II, 101st Airborne | |||
| Louis de Broglie | ||||
| Louis Bromfield | ||||
| Robert S. Brookings | ||||
| Romaine Brooks | ||||
| Albert Bros | Escaped pow and member of the Resistance | |||
| Daniel Brottier | ||||
| John Nicholas Brown II | Philanthropist | |||
| Margaret Brown | ||||
| Leader of Yugoslavia | ||||
| John Bruce Lockhart | Scotland, Great War | |||
| Angélique Brûlon | ||||
| Gabriel Brunet de Sairigné | ||||
| Charles F. Bruns[34] | ||||
| Michael Bruxner | ||||
| Frank Buckles | ||||
| Jean-Eugène Buland | French painter | |||
| Eugene Bullard | ||||
| Omar Bundy | American general | |||
| Joseph Richard Burke[35] | Canadian Army, WWII veteran, dispatch rider with the Toronto Scottish Regiment | Knight (8 August 2015) | ||
| Richard Burrows | ||||
| Robert Busnel | ||||
| Stephen Butcher | ||||
| Richard E. Byrd | American admiral and explorer | |||
| Myles Byrne |