The Foundation - News

September 2011

Maya Plisetskaya appointed as an officer of the French Legion of Honor

The President of the French Republic Nikolas Sarkozy appointed Maya Plisetskaya with decree of 13 July 2011 as an officer in the National Order of the Legion of Honor. The ambassador of the French Republic in Germany Maurice Gourdault-Montagne informed Plisetskaya about this decision in an official letter of 25 August. At the same time he expressed his thanks to the great diva of ballet for her commitment and contribution to the relationship between Germany and France.

It is for the second time after 1986 - at that time the order was handed over by the former French President François Mitterrand - that France honours Plisetskaya, one of the greatest dancers of the 20th century, with this prestigious and highest national decoration. The order Legion of Honor was established 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte and has been awarded since more than two hundert years to outstanding personalities in military and civil area. Now Maya Plisetskaya, with whose name was opened a new epoch in ballet, takes the place which is deserved for her in this honourable line of remarkable personalities.