It is the highest distinction. As announced in the promotion of July 14, Line Renaud was officially decorated with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor this Friday evening during a ceremony at the Élysée. 94-year-old Line Renaud will soon star in the film “A Beautiful Race” with Danny Boon. Co-founder and current vice-president of Sidaction, the actress leads several battles such as the right to die with dignity.
“A telluric sweetness”
“Line nervous, me too!”, launched Emmanuel Macron at the start of his speech. The actress and the president had previously met privately at the Élysée. Visibly moved, the president recalled that Line Renaud was received at the Élysée by several presidents “we pass, you come back”, did he declare. The president who then underlined the “telluric sweetness” of Line Renaud, and his “colossal sensitivity”.
In a 30-minute speech, Emmanuel Macron retraced the life of Line Renaud, from her childhood in Nieppe, to her career in the United States – “over there, you become Madame France” – Passing by his first audition to enter the conservatory of Lille.
“You are this woman who, when touched, commits herself” – Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron then returned to the militant commitment of Line Renaud. Since the 1980s, the actress has mobilized in the fight against AIDS, “You have never stopped this fight against this atrocious disease”supported the president. “This is how you helped save lives, thousands of lives, by refusal of propriety, by choice of the heart”he continued, before adding: “You are that woman who, when touched, engages.”
The President finally concluded: “You have contributed like few others to the influence of our country. I have the immense honor and the happiness of raising you to the rank of Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor”. The president pinned the highest French distinction to Line Renaud, it is also Emmanuel Macron – alongside his wife Brigitte Macron – who raised the northern actress to the highest rank of the Legion of Honor.
“I so want to say something but the protocol does not allow it”, soberly reacted Line Renaud.
150 guests… artists, politicians and scientists
In the presence of 150 guests including Muriel Robin, Nathalie Baye, Dominique Besnehard, Pierre Lescure, Michel Drucker or even former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, Line Renaud was awarded the highest French distinction by the hands of the President of the Republic. .
Artistic and political circles were present but also scientificlike the commitments of Line Renaud, figure of Sidaction and activist for the right to die, last August she published an open letter in the JDD co-written by the deputy Olivier Falorni, asking for the legalization of “active assistance in dying”. Professor Delfraissy, from the scientific council, is present. Representatives of associations fighting against AIDS were also invited.