Knights of the Legion of Honour

Éric_de_Montgolfier

Éric de Montgolfier (born 11 August 1946) is a French attorney and state prosecutor (procureur de la République).When head prosecutor in Valenciennes, he became famous for prosecuting the businessman-cum-politician Bernard Tapie for rigging the match between his football club Olympique de Marseille and the local club Valenciennes FC. Tapie was sentenced to prison in 1995 for complicity of corruption and subornation of witnesses.
In 2003, as head prosecutor of Nice, he returned to public notice with allegations that the local judiciary had deliberately derailed justice by miscarrying procedures, letting prescription lapse, or losing files, in "sensitive" cases; he also indicated that some members of the judiciary had unhealthy contacts in Masonic lodges with local personalities, including those they had to prosecute.
Montgolfier also opened a criminal investigation targeting rock star Johnny Hallyday for allegedly raping an employee of a yacht rented by Halliday. He had also hinted at possible investigations concerning corruption in the city of Nice's administration.
An official report from the inspection corps of the Justice ministry blamed him for unwarranted accusations against his colleagues, but supporters of Montgolfier argue that he is criticized merely because he has uncovered cases involving well-connected people.

Francois_Furet

François Furet (French: [fʁɑ̃swa fyʁɛ]; 27 March 1927 – 12 July 1997) was a French historian and president of the Saint-Simon Foundation, best known for his books on the French Revolution. From 1985 to 1997, Furet was a professor of French history at the University of Chicago.
Furet was elected to the Académie française in March 1997, just three months before he died in July.

Roberto_Alagna

Roberto Alagna (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto aˈlaɲɲa]; born 7 June 1963) is a French operatic tenor. He obtained French citizenship in 1981, while also retaining his previous Italian citizenship.

Kees_Van_Dongen

Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually into a rough pointillist style. From 1905 onwards – when he took part at the controversial 1905 Salon d'Automne exhibition – his style became more and more radical in its use of form and colour. The paintings he made in the period of 1905–1910 are considered by some to be his most important works. The themes of his work from that period are predominantly centered on the nightlife. He painted dancers, singers, masquerades, and theatre. Van Dongen gained a reputation for his sensuous – at times garish – portraits, especially of women.

Ninon_Vallin

Eugénie "Ninon" Vallin (8 September 1886 – 22 November 1961) was a French lyric soprano who achieved considerable popularity in opera, operetta and classical song recitals during an international career that lasted for more than four decades.

Ian_MacGregor

Sir Ian Kinloch MacGregor, KBE (21 September 1912 – 13 April 1998) was a Scottish metallurgist and industrialist, most famous in the UK for his controversial tenure at the British Steel Corporation and his conduct during the 1984–85 miners' strike while managing the National Coal Board.

Robert_Doisneau

Robert Doisneau (French pronunciation: [ʁɔbɛʁ dwano]; 14 April 1912 – 1 April 1994) was a French photographer. From the 1930s, he photographed the streets of Paris. He was a champion of humanist photography and with Henri Cartier-Bresson a pioneer of photojournalism.Doisneau is known for his 1950 image Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville (The Kiss by the City Hall), a photograph of a couple kissing on a busy Parisian street.
He was appointed a Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour in 1984 by then French president, François Mitterrand.

Helene_Boucher

Hélène Boucher (23 May 1908 - 30 November 1934) was a well-known French pilot in the early 1930s, when she set several women's world speed records and the all-comers record for 1,000 km (621 mi) in 1934. She was killed in an accident in the same year.