Officers of the Ordre national du M\u00e9rite

Alexandre_Adler

Alexandre Adler (23 September 1950 – 18 July 2023) was a French historian, journalist and expert of contemporary geopolitics, the former USSR, and the Middle East. He was a Knight of the Legion of Honour (2002). A Maoist in his youth and then a member of the Communist Party (PCF), he shifted to the right at the end of the 1970s and later became close to U.S. neoconservatives, as did his wife Blandine Kriegel (daughter of the communist Resistant Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont). Adler was the counsellor of Roger Cukiermann, chairman of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF, Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France).

Stéphane_Abrial

Stéphane Abrial (French pronunciation: [abʁiɑl]; born 7 September 1954), is a French general who is the previous commander of Allied Command Transformation based in Norfolk, VA, one of the two NATO strategic commands. His previous posting was as the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force.

Luc_Abalo

Luc Kangny Abalo (born 6 September 1984) is a French retired handball player.Being a member of the national team from 2005, he won gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2020 Olympics, 2009, 2011 and 2017 World and 2006, 2010 and 2014 European championships. He was named the French Division 1 Player of the Year in 2007, and the league's Best Right Wing in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2008 he received the Legion of Honour.Abalo is an accomplished graphical artist. Upon a request from the French Olympic Committee he designed a wristband popularizing the Paris' bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Approximately 1.5 million copies were sold in September 2015.

Francis_Girod

Francis Girod (9 October 1944 – 19 November 2006) was a French film director, actor, and screenwriter. He directed 20 films between 1974 and 2006. His film L'enfance de l'art was entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. In 1994 he was a member of the jury at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.

Bernard_Diomède

Bernard Nicolas Thierry Diomède (born 23 January 1974) is a French football manager and former professional player. He was most recently the manager of the France U20s. He played as a winger and won the World Cup with France in 1998.

Marie-Laure_Brunet

Marie-Laure Brunet (born 20 November 1988 in Lannemezan, Hautes-Pyrénées) is a retired French biathlete and Olympic athlete who won a bronze medal in the women's pursuit at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games of Vancouver.Brunet made her Biathlon World Cup debut in March 2007 at Kontiolahti, shortly after winning a gold medal in the pursuit event at the Youth World Championships. During her career she developed a reputation as one of the most accurate shooters on the biathlon circuit. Brunet announced her retirement in June 2014 after suffering health problems, including collapsing during the relay at the 2014 Olympics.

Yamina_Benguigui

Yamina Benguigui (born Yamina Zora Belaïdi; in Lille on 9 April 1955) is a French film director and politician of Algerian descent. She is known for her films on gender issues in the North African (both Berbers and Arabs) immigrant community in France. Through her films, Benguigui gave a voice to many from the Maghrebi population in France.

Agnès_b

agnès b. (born Agnès Andrée Marguerite Troublé, 1941) is a French fashion designer known for her self-named brand, which includes fashion and film interests.