Lawrence J. Yanovitch, a son of Lorraine and the late Joseph Yanovitch of Ponte Vedra Beach, has been knighted into the Légion d’Honneur, or Legion of Honor, France’s highest order of merit.
His Excellency Philippe Étienne, who served as France’s ambassador to the United States from 2019 to 2023, presented the insignia of chevalier of the Legion of Honor on behalf of the French president to Yanovitch, 63, during a ceremony held on Saturday, June 22, at the Paris residence of the U.S. ambassador to France and Monaco.
Yanovitch received the honor in recognition of his life’s work on behalf of low-income populations and for the key role he has played in mobilizing the world’s biggest investors and asset managers to work collectively to combat climate change.
Along with Étienne, speakers included U.S. Ambassador Denise Campbell Bauer, French Ambassador Aurélien Lechevallier and Academy Award-winning actress and activist Natalie Portman, who first met Yanovitch through their shared passion and support for global microfinance network FINCA.
The guests at the ceremony, which included approximately 100 members of the international community, diplomatic corps and family and friends, heard Portman and the other speakers describe Yanovitch’s journey: from a child being raised on the Space Coast by his mother, a registered pediatric and neonatal nurse, and Air Force officer father, to an international upbringing in pre-revolutionary Iran and elsewhere when his father joined the Boeing Corp., to an early microfinance career with Catholic Relief Services in Thailand and later with FINCA, to senior positions with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GSMA (the global trade association for mobile network operators and telcos) as president of its Foundation, to most recently the coordinator of a network of global financial leaders committed to accelerating investments in renewable energy and other climate solutions.
The speakers expressed appreciation for what they characterized as a very American spirit of optimism that Yanovitch brings to his commitments, positioning his embrace of Paris within a long tradition, starting with Benjamin Franklin, of Americans falling in love with the City of Light.
Mrs. Yanovitch, 90, was unable to travel to Paris for the ceremony but attended via videoconference and received greetings and expressions of gratitude from all the speakers. She was joined by other members of Yanovitch’s family, including his brother George, sister-in-law Teri and sister Debra, all of Central Florida, who also watched from home.
In his own remarks (delivered in French and English), Yanovitch spoke of the love he has felt for France since his first visit to that country at the age of 12.
His relocation was facilitated in 2017 by a visa France grants to people of exceptional talents, with full citizenship granted in 2019.
Yanovitch, who also retains his U.S. citizenship, spoke of the deep bonds between the U.S. and its oldest ally, and his gratitude to President Emmanuel Macron for his inspirational leadership.
Yanovitch also described his sense of awe at having met, just three weeks prior at a ceremony on Omaha Beach, fellow Legion of Honor recipient Arlester Brown, a 100-year-old veteran from Washington, D.C.
Along with members of the military who fought for France’s liberation, other American recipients of the Legion of Honor include inventors such as Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers and Alexander Graham Bell; writers, musicians and artists such as James Baldwin, Patti Smith, Leonard Bernstein, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Walt Disney and Francis Ford Coppola; economists and business leaders such as Jeff Bezos, Alan Greenspan and Charles Goodyear; and activists and advocates such as Helen Keller.
Since the Legion of Honor’s founding in 1802, approximately 10,000 Americans have received the honor.
