THE LEGION OF HONOUR

The Grand Chancellery is a state institution placed under the authority of the President of the French Republic, who is also the Grand Master of the Legion of Honour.

It carries out three missions related to public service, which are governed by the code of the Legion of Honour.

Napoleon Bonaparte created the Legion of Honour distinction not merely to recognise acts of military valour, but also to thank French or foreign individuals who, in some way, contributed to France’s excellence.

The archives of this decoration represent an invaluable heritage, which is why the project to preserve them, called “Memory of Honour”, will allow history, names, and reasons for which certain individuals were awarded this distinction to be perpetuated for centuries to come.

History cannot be constructed without memory and education cannot be constructed without history.

Therefore, it became evident that to aid education, history needed to be preserved through this elegant and ambitious Memory of Honour project.

A little-known function of the Grand Chancellery of the Legion of Honour is the education of young females in boarding schools, this mission was established in 1805.This programme continues today welcoming over 1,000 students, many of whom are either orphans or come from disadvantaged backgrounds, into the schools of the Legion of Honour in Saint-Denis.

The modernity of this concept, which promoted the education of young girls over 200 yrs. ago, is striking and unfortunately remains a hot topic in many parts of the world today. Therefore, the Foundation has chosen to invest in this outstanding project in the foreseeable future as part of its ongoing support for female educational empowerment.

Amount awarded in 2022

€ 100,000