The following is a list of notable foreign members of the Legion of Honor by their country of origin. The Legion of Honor is the highest decoration in France. and is divided into five degrees (lower to higher): Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross).
Membership in the Legion of Honor is restricted to French nationals.Légion Code, article 16. Foreign nationals who have served France or the ideals it upholdsLes 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. may, however, receive a distinction of the Légion, which is nearly the same thing as membership in the Légion. Foreign nationals who live in France are submitted to the same requirements as Frenchmen. Foreign nationals who live abroad may be awarded a distinction of any rank or dignity in the Légion.
A complete, chronological list of the members of the Legion of Honor nominated from the very first ceremony in 1804 to now does not exist. The number is estimated at one million. Among them about 3,000 were decorated with the Grand Cross (including 1,200 French).WATTEL Michel et Béatrice, Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur. De 1805 à nos jours, titulaires français et étrangers, Archives et Culture, 2009
Albania
Grand Officer Ismail Kadare (2020), a writer Iliaz Vrioni, politician Commander Edi Rama (2017), Albanian prime minister Chevalier Fatos Kongoli (2010), a writer
Algeria
Algeria was part of France from 1830 to 1962Wattell Michel and Béatrice, Les Grand'Croix de la Légion d'honneur. De 1805 à nos jours, titulaires français et étrangers, Archives et Culture, 2009, pp.408–410 Grand Cross Abdelkader El Djezairi (Grand Croix, 1860), religious and military leader. Awarded Legion of Honour for protecting Christians in Damascus during the Syrian crisis of 1860 Si Kaddour Benghabrit (1939), official and founder of the Muslim Institute of the Great Mosque of Paris"A la dignité de grand'croix. M. Si Kaddour ben Ghabrit, ministre plénipotentiaire honoraire, président de la Société des Habous des Lieux Saints de l'Islam, directeur de l'institut musulman et de la mosquée de Paris" in Journal officiel de la République française, 1939, p.2975 (1856-1940), bachaga of the LarbaaDécret du 11 juillet 1928. Journal officiel n° 164 du 12 juillet 1928, p.7803
Chevalier Saïd Cid Kaoui (1904), berberologist, lexicographer and interpreter officer of the 1st class.
Argentina Chevalier Adolfo Bioy Casares (1981), writer. Ernesto Sabato (Chevalier, 1979; Commandeur, 1987), writer, humanist, physicist, president of the CONADEP Juan David Nasio (1999), psychoanalyst, psychiatric physician, writer.
Officier Victoria Ocampo (Officier, 1962; Chevalier), writer, critic; founder, publisher and director of Sur, philanthropist. Quino (2014), cartoonist, creator of Mafalda
Commander Jorge Luis Borges (1983), writer, teacher.
Grand Cross Mauricio Macri (2016), president of Argentina
Armenia
Grand Cross Robert Kocharyan, (Grand Cross), politician, former president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan (Grand Cross, 2011), politician, former president of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan ( Grand Cross, 2026) politician, Prime Minister of Armenia
Grand Officier Eduard Nalbandyan (Grand Officier, 2011), diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Commander Sergei Khudyakov, Marshal of the aviation of Soviet Union
Officier Andranik Ozanian, military commander and statesman (1919) Aram Karamanoukian, was a Lieutenant General of the Syrian Army Ara Güler, was an Armenian photojournalist from Turkey (2000)
Chevalier Ara Abramyan, prominent philanthropist, social activist, and businessmen from Russia (2005) Ivan Ayvazovsky, Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art (1857)
Religious Leader Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Australia
Grand Officer General Sir John Monash, (1919), appointed Grand Officier during World War I
Commander Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, (2017), Chief of the Defence Force, appointed Chevalier in 2015 Stephen Brady (2017), ambassador of Australia to France Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston, (2007), former Chief of the Defence Force Howard Florey (Commandeur, 1946) pathologist and pharmacologist, known for his role in discovery of Penicillin. Sir Ninian Stephen (1983), Governor-General of Australia
Officer Major General Sir John Gellibrand, (1919), Commander 3rd Australian Division, appointed Officier during World War I Major General Sir Thomas Glasgow, (1919), Commander 1st Australian Division, appointed Officier during World War I Major General Sir Charles Rosenthal, (1919), Commander 2nd Australian Division, appointed Officier during World War I Ross Steele, (2008), for promoting the teaching of French language and culture. Was also appointed Chevalier in 1996 General Sir Peter Cosgrove, , Governor General of Australia General David Hurley, (2012), Governor of New South Wales – Officer of the Legion of Honour – 20 January 2012. Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, (25 March 2014), Chief of Navy Dame Marie Bashir, (2014), Governor of New South Wales. Was also appointed Chevalier in 2009 Lieutenant General David Morrison, (July 2014), Chief of Army. Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, (8 April 2017), Chief of Navy. Vice Admiral David Johnston, (16 November 2018), Vice Chief of the Defence Force. Nancy Wake, partisan of the French Resistance in World War 2
Chevalier Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Bruxner, (1917), later to become a prominent NSW politician, was appointed as a Chevalier "in recognition of distinguished services" during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War Lieutenant General Sir Leslie Morshead, (1919), 33rd Battalion, AIF, appointed Officier during World War I James Taylor (1927), Australian Olympic Federation president Professor Francis Patrick Donovan (1998), appointed Chevalier in recognition of services to the International Court of Arbitration and the relationship between France and Australia. Charlie Mance (Age 98) travelled to France in 1998 to receive the medal for serving in France as an ally in World War One. Robert Cowper (2004), flying ace of the Second World War Tom Hughes, (2005), prominent barrister and Attorney-General in the Gorton Government, appointed Chevalier for his contribution as an RAAF pilot in the D-Day landings Suzanne Cory, (2009), professor of medical research with the Institut Pasteur Duncan Kerr, Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (2011) Professor Kurt Lambeck , (2013), geoscientist who helped establish the Centre national d'études spatiales (National Centre for Space Studies) John Spender KC (2013) Edmund Charles Spencer World War I veteran awarded the Légion d'Honneur on the 80th anniversary of the armistice. Rear Admiral Michael Noonan, (October 2017), Deputy Chief of Navy Gordon Victor Fells Powell (born 1925), Royal Navy, was appointed Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Légion D'honneur in May 2017 in recognition of his service in WWII as a Gunner during the liberation of France at the Normandy D-Day Landings, and the building of the Mulberry Docks. Leslie Eric Emmerson, British Army, 43rd Regiment, Bren Gunner, was appointed Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Légion D'honneur in May 2017 in recognition of his outstanding WWII service during the liberation of France both during the Normandy D-Day Landings, and throughout France. Flight Lieutenant Herbert George‘Bert’ Adams, RAAF Service No. 424504, Bomber Command WWII: 1939-45 star, with a Bomber Command clasp, DFC, National Order of the Legion of Honour.
Austria Grand Cross Ferdinand III (Grand Croix), Grand Duke of Tuscany Grand Officer Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky, field marshal, chief of the general staff of the Imperial and Royal Army of Austria-Hungary Chevalier Peter Engelmann, philosopher and publisher (2013) Hans Hollein (2003), architect and designer
Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, the first lady of Azerbaijan Novruz Mammadov, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan (2019) for his contribution to the cooperation between Azerbaijan and France.
Bahrain Mohammed bin Jasim Alghatam, politician, scientist and army veteran received both Chevalier and Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur
Bangladesh Arshad-uz Zaman (first Bangladeshi) Sayeed Ahmed (1993) Muhammad Yunus (Officer, 2004) Rasul Nizam (Chevalier, 2004)
Belgium
Achille Van Acker (Grand Croix), former prime minister Albert II, King of the Belgians Alfred Belpaire (Grand Officier), locomotive engineer Baron Jean-Pierre Berghmans in 2005 (Chevalier), economist and industrialist Count Paul Buysse (2011), businessman Marie Joseph Charles, 6th Duke d'Ursel, politician Alfred Cluysenaar (1878), painter Willy Coppens (Commandeur, 1934), flying ace, balloon buster and writer Baron Henry Delvaux de Fenffe (Grand Officier), civil servant Baron Édouard Descamps (Grand Officier), jurist and politician Édouard Empain (Officier, 1900), engineer, financier and industrialist Zénobe Gramme (Chevalier) electrical engineer, inventor of Gramme machine Roger Lallemand (Commandeur, 1991), former president of the Senate Baron Auguste Lambermont (Grand Officier), statesman Henri Lavachery (Chevalier, 1935), archaeologist and ethnologist. Awarded Legion of Honour for his work during the expedition to Easter Island. Edmund Leburton, former prime minister Gérard Leman (Grand Croix), general. Awarded Legion of Honour for his role in defending Liège during World War I. Benoît Lengelé (Chevalier, 2019), physician, surgeon and anatomist. Awarded Legion of Honour for performing the first partial face transplant. Leopold II (1854), King of the Belgians and founder of Congo Free State Charles Liedts (Grand Officier), former president of the Chamber of Representatives Anne-Marie Lizin (2005), former president of the Senate Jules Malou (Grand Croix) former prime minister Wilfried Martens, former prime minister Désiré-Joseph Mercier (Grand Croix, 1924) former Archbishop of Mechelen and Primate of Belgium Eddy Merckx (Commandeur, 2011), cyclist Louis Michel, politician Baron Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb (1984), former president of the Chamber of Representatives Louis Raemaekers (Officier) painter, caricaturist and editorial cartoonist for De Telegraaf Didier Reynders (Commandeur, 2013), former European Commissioner for Justice Marc Roche (2016), journalist Count Jacques Rogge (Officier, 2011), former president of the International Olympic Committee François van Rysselberghe (Chevalier, 1881), scientist Count Paul de Smet de Naeyer, former head of Société Générale de Belgique and former prime minister of Belgium. Freddy Thielemans (Officier, 2014), former mayor of the City of Brussels 2016: Baron Alphonse Jacques de Dixmude, Grand Officer. Paul Breyne, Chevalier. Baron Auguste Goffinet, Officer. Baron Emile-Ernest de Cartier de Marchienne, Officer. Baron Paul Janssen, founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica, Officer. Knight François-Xavier de Donnea, former mayor of the City of Brussels and Minister-President of the Brussels Region, Officer. Knight Antonin de Selliers de Moranville, Chevalier the 8th Duke d'Ursel, knight
Benin Vicentia Boco, Knight Émile Derlin Zinsou (Grand Croix, 1996), former president of Dahomey.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ivan Ceresnjes (1994), head of the Jewish community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for non-sectarian humanitarian relief work during the Bosnian War. Jovan Divjak (2001), Bosnian general and philanthropist Vahid Halilhodžić (2004), professional football manager and former football player Emerik Blum (1974), was a Bosnian Jewish businessman, philanthropist and politician who served as the 26th mayor of Sarajevo from 1981 to 1983. He founded the Energoinvest company in Sarajevo.