Mohammadreza Shajarian awarded Chevalier of the Legion of Honor

TEHRAN,June 25(MNA) -- Iranian vocalist Mohammadreza Shajarian received France’s Chevalier of the Legion of Honor on Monday evening. The medal, which is the highest decoration awarded by the French government, was presented to Shajarian by French Ambassador Bruno Foucher during a ceremony at his residence in Tehran, the Persian daily Sharq reported on Tuesday. A large number of Iranian celebrities, including musicians Farhad Fakhreddini, Hossein Alizadeh, Mohammadreza Darvishi, and Anushirvan Rohani, attended the ceremony. Director Asghar Farhadi, actress Leila Hatami, actors Peyman Moadi, Reza Kianian, and Ali Mosaffa, calligrapher Gholamhossein Amirkhani, painters Aidin Aghdashlu and Parviz Kalantari, writers Mahmud Dowlatabadi and Dariush Shayegan, and Shajarian’s sons Homayun and Rayan also attended the ceremony. In an address at the event, Foucher gave a short biography of Shajarian and said, “The French government and the Ministry of Culture have the honor of presenting its highest cultural medal to him.” Shajarian, 73, called himself “a servant of the Iranian nation” and said, “I’m glad to see that the friendly government and nation of France recognize Iran’s domestic cultural affairs and I’m also grateful to the French envoy for awarding this medal to me.” After Shahram Nazeri, Shajarian is the second Iranian vocalist to receive the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Shahram Nazeri received the honor in September 2008. Iranian Artists Forum Director Majid Sarsangi announced last week that Shajarian would receive the honor in Paris.