The Legion of Honour () is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five degrees in ascending order: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross).
Membership in the Legion is restricted to French nationals. Foreign citizens who have served France or the ideals it upholds may, however, receive a distinction of the Legion, which is broadly equivalent to membership, and can be awarded at any of the ranks. Foreign nationals who live in France are submitted to the same requirements as French nationals.
A complete list of the members of the Legion from 1802, when the award was established, does not exist. The number of awards is estimated at one million. Approximately 3,000 of these were awarded at the most senior rank of Grand Cross (including 1,200 French nationals).
List of some recipients
Before 1880
Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia (1805), member of the Prussian royal family (Grand Aigle) Carel Hendrik Ver Huell (1806), Dutch (and later French) admiral who served in the Napoleonic Wars (Grand Aigle) Alessandro Volta (1806), Italian physicist and chemist who was a pioneer of electricity (Chevalier) Maximilian von Montgelas (1810), Bavarian statesman (Grand Aigle) Thomas Jones Barker, British artist; painter to Louis Philippe I. Patrick James Smyth, Irish revolutionary and politician. Smyth was made a Chevalier in recognition of his efforts organising an Irish ambulance service who serviced the French Army during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
1880 to 1889
Joseph O'Kelly (1881), French-born Irish composer and pianist
Sir Francis Dillon Bell MLC (1889), New Zealand politician and representative at the 1889 Paris World fair and exhibition The Honourable Thomas William Hislop (1889), New Zealand politician and representative at the 1889 Paris World fair and exhibition Sir Walter Lawry Buller (1889), New Zealand politician, naturalist and ornithologist who displayed at the 1889 Paris World fair and exhibition
1900 to 1909
Abdessalem ben Mohamed GOAIED El Ferchichi El Aloui El Mohammedi (1877-1919) Leader & Caid of the Fraichiche tribe, Thala, Tunisia, Knight of the Order of Glory, Tunisia, 1901, Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, France, 1907, Knight of the Order of Glory, Tunisia, 1910. Dr. Carlos Finlay (1908), Cuban physician and scientist Dr Richard Strauss (1907), German composer and conductor