Knights of the Ordre national du M\u00e9rite

Alexis_Vastine

Alexis Vastine (17 November 1986 – 9 March 2015) was a French boxer who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the Light Welterweight division. He also competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the quarterfinals in a controversial decision. He died in the Villa Castelli helicopter collision during the filming of French TV reality show Dropped for the TF1 network.

François_Bachy

François Bachy (born 6 March 1960) is a French journalist. He was born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine. After obtaining a master's degree in political science, he joined the Training Centre for Journalists (CFJ).

Malek_Boutih

Abdelmalek "Malek" Boutih (French pronunciation: [malɛk buˈti]; born 27 October 1964) is a French retired politician and activist who served as a member of the National Assembly from 2012 to 2017, representing the Essonne department. He previously was the Socialist Party's National Secretary for Social Issues (French: Secrétaire national chargé des questions de société) from 2003 to 2008.
He also has had a long association with SOS Racisme, a civil rights organisation with close ties to the Socialist Party. He joined in 1984 while a student at the University of Nanterre and served as vice president from 1985 to 1992 and as president from 1999 to 2003. Boutih is known for his honesty and generosity; he is appreciated on both sides of the aisle for his patriotism and frankness. President Nicolas Sarkozy asked him to enter the French Government in 2007 but he refused, preferring to focus on his social activism.

Dominique_Lecourt

Dominique Lecourt (French: [ləkuʁ]; 5 February 1944 – 1 May 2022) was a French philosopher. He is known in the Anglophone world primarily for his work developing a materialist interpretation of the philosophy of science of Gaston Bachelard.

Michel_Ciment

Michel Ciment (French: [simɑ̃]; 26 May 1938 – 13 November 2023) was a French film critic and the editor of the cinema magazine Positif.
Michel Ciment was born in Paris on 26 May 1938. He was a Chevalier of the Order of Merit, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters, and the president of FIPRESCI. Ciment died in Paris on 13 November 2023, at the age of 85.Ciment was noted for his love for American film, somewhat unusual in his French cultural environment. He credited his Americophilia to his memories of the liberation of Paris by American soldiers in 1944, when he was a child. Ciment's parents were Alexander and Helene Cziment; they changed their last name after the war. His father was a Hungarian-Jewish tailor and an immigrant to France, putting the family in particular danger during the Nazi occupation.He wrote books on great film directors, which were based on extensive interviews with their subjects. An anthology of interviews, Film World, was published in English 2009.

Jean-Guillaume_Béatrix

Jean-Guillaume Béatrix (born 24 March 1988) is a retired French biathlete who has competed since 2005 till 2018. He was won the silver medal in the relay at the World Championships in 2012 and 2013, as well as the bronze in the Pursuit at the 2014 Olympics at Sochi. Béatrix has had four podium finishes in World Cup races in individual races.

Maud_Fontenoy

Maud Fontenoy (born September 7, 1977) is a French sailor known for her rowings across the Atlantic (2003) and Pacific (2005) oceans.
Most recently, she completed a sailing trip around the Antarctic alone, against prevailing winds. Departed from the Réunion island on October 15, 2006, she crossed the finish line on March 14, 2007, having sailed for 14,500 km (9,000 mi). Fontenoy was named the UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the World Ocean Network Spokesperson for the Ocean on 3 June 2009Maud Fontenoy has four children: Mahé (with Thomas Vollaire), Hina (with an unknown man), Loup (with Raphaël Enthoven), and Côme (with Olivier Chartier).

Francis_Veber

Francis Paul Veber (born 28 July 1937) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer, and playwright. He has written and directed both French and American films. Nine French-language films with which he has been involved, as either writer or director or both, have been remade as English-language Hollywood films: Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire (as The Man with One Red Shoe), L'emmerdeur (as Buddy Buddy), La Cage aux Folles (as The Birdcage), Le Jouet (as The Toy), Les Compères (as Fathers' Day), La chèvre (as Pure Luck), Les Fugitifs (as Three Fugitives), Le dîner de cons (as Dinner for Schmucks) and La Doublure (as The Valet). He also wrote the screenplay for My Father the Hero, the 1994 American remake of the French-language film Mon père, ce héros.
Some of his screenplays started as theater plays (for instance, Le dîner de cons). This theatrical experience contributes to his films' tight structure, resulting in what has been called "marvels of economy".Many of his French comedies feature recurring types of characters, named François Pignon (a bungler) and François Perrin (a bully).

Hamilton_Sabot

Hamilton Sabot (born 31 May 1987 in Cagnes-Sur-Mer) is a French gymnast. He competed for the national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men's artistic team all-around. He won a bronze medal in parallel bars at the 2012 Summer Olympics.On 1 January 2013, Sabot was made a Knight (Chevalier) of the French National Order of Merit.