Viktor Erofeev became the gentleman of the Order of the Honorary Legion

Russian writer Viktor Erofeev was awarded the title of Cavalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor by decision of France President Francois Hollande. The reward to the writer on Thursday, October 3, was presented in Moscow by the French ambassador Jean de Clay.

He noted that Viktor Vladimirovich was born in a family of diplomats, which gave him the opportunity to spend part of his childhood in Paris, ITAR-TASS reports. In 1970, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, and later - graduate school of the Institute of World Literature. In 1979, Erofeev was expelled from the Writers' Union for organizing the Metropol almanac in samizdat, after which his books were not published in the USSR for 10 years.

“In 1990, the“ Russian beauty ”was published, which still remains the most famous of your work, where you are approaching to understand what the Russian soul is,” Jean de Clay emphasized. “You are not only a writer, but also a prominent mass communication figure, were the author and host of the Apocryth television program on the Culture TV channel, for participation in which they often invited to participate in which French writers, ”the ambassador emphasized.

He called Erofeev a "man of world culture", who is especially attached to France. According to the ambassador, French readers value and love the work of Victor Erofeev. “Your personal qualities make you a guide of thoughts between cultures of France and Russia. And for me a great joy to present this well -deserved reward, ”concluded Jean de Clay.

In turn, Viktor Erofeev expressed gratitude to the French president for the honor. “France gave me the opportunity to feel what freedom and creativity are,” he admitted.
“Today the writer must be a person of two cultures. Fate gave me the opportunity to be a man of culture of Russia and France, ”said Erofeev. “And if I had my own personal order, I would have handed it to France and thanked it for giving me.”

Victor Erofeev was born in 1947. After the publication of the essay on the work of the Marquis de Sad in the journal "Questions of Literature", after the publication of the essay. In 1992, he became the laureate of the Vladimir Nabokov Prize, in 2006 - the gentleman of the French Order of Arts and Literature.