Calligrapher becomes 10th Iranian to win France's Legion of Honor.

The Embassy of France in Tehran last week formally presented the award of the French Legion of Honor to Gholam-Hossein Amirkhani, a leading Iranian calligrapher. He becomes the 10th Iranian known to have received the award.

"Your name is linked to the Iran Calligraphers Association, the largest Iranian society of art and culture," Francois Senemaud, the ambassador of France to Iran, told Amirkhani while awarding him the Legion of Honor during a ceremony in France's Embassy in Iran.

According to Shahrvand, Amirkhani, 78, started doing calligraphy when he was 20 years old. As a member of the Iran Calligraphers Association since 1965, he was titled a Master of Iranian Calligraphy in 1979.

He has received the Iranian Order of Culture and Art twice, in 1999 and 2009. Amirkhani was also honored in the Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Fame ceremony in 2002.

At least nine Iranians have previously received the Legion of Honor, which was created in 1803 by Napoleon. A complete list of honorees for that medal does not exist, but they are believed to number around one million.

The Iranian winners of the Legion of Honor are:

* Mohsen Rais, (1947), ambassador and cabinet minister;

* Ali Amini (1962), prime minister;

* Bahram Aryana (1966), former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces;

* Shirin Ebadi (2006), human rights lawyer;

* Abbas Kiarostami, filmmaker;

* Shahram Nazeri, musician;

* Reza Deghati, photojournalist;

* Pari Saberi, theater director; and

* Jalal Sattari, Iranologist and writer.

Caption: AMIRKHANI ... for his fine hand