Simone Veil "tops" French honours list

Simone Veil, is probably the most high profile among a list of those announced on Thursday to receive France's most prestigious award, the Légion d'honneur or Legion of Honour.

Veil, recently elevated to the illustrious Académie française or French Academy, was named Grand Officier - one of the two highest levels of the order - at the discretion of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Every time a new list or "class" is revealed - at the beginning of each year and then usually around Bastille Day on July 14 - there's a certain amount of "promotion" that goes on, if you like, as some individuals are bumped up a notch.

Hence in this New Year's list, Veil was in a sense fast-tracked - although that's perhaps not the most appropriate term to use for the 81-year-old former government minister - as she was named to one of the higher levels without having first passed through the lower ranks, as is usual.

Here's perhaps the moment to fill you in with a little bit of background about the Légion d'honneur - without going into too much detail as it can become both confusing and deadly boring.

So as briefly as possible :

While Britain has its New Year's honours list to pay tribute to the country's "great" by awarding them titles and medals for "individual personal bravery, achievement or service", France opts for its own version, in a manner of speaking .

The Légion d'honneur was created in 1802 by Napoleon as an order of merit to recognise "outstanding services rendered to France or a feat befitting humanity."

In the past it was limited to intellectual greats, artists, the military and in general those who had made what was considered an “important” historical contribution.

But in more recent years it has been "opened up" somewhat, and although there are limits on the numbers of those accepted into one of the five different ranks, the range of personalities can maybe leave some "purists" wondering what has happened to the original intent behind the order of merit.

Be that as it may, there are five different levels from Chevalier (Knight) - to which the maximum number of those accepted into the order is over 113,000 making it the most "accessible", through Officier (Officer) with a limit of 10,000, Commandeur (Commander) numbering no more than 1,250 and then the two elite levels; Grand Officier (Grand Officer) - 250 max, and "la crème de la crème" Grand-Croix (Grand Cross) whose limit is set at 75 .

For a more complete list of who has received what, when and why - see here and follow the appropriate links.

As far as Thursday's announcement goes, apart from Veil, other names that might ring a bell outside of France include the former international soccer star, Zinédine Zidane, who moves up from Chevalier to Officier, and two of the three joint recipients of the Nobel prize for medicine; Luc Montagnier, who will now become a Grand Officier, and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi is a Commandeur.

France's other Nobel laureate from 2008 - Jean-Marie Le Clézio, for literature - also becomes an Officier.

British fashion designer and big cheese at the Dior house, John Galliano, took his first step on the French ladder of honour when he was named a Chevalier.

And from the world of showbiz, the actress Isabelle Huppert, moved up from Chevalier to Officier - topping off a great start to the year for her as she has also just been named president of the jury at the 62nd International Cannes film festival, which will take place from May 13-24.

For a full list click here and once again follow the appropriate links.