France has been Kadare’s second home and his rise to international fame since Albania was under communist rule.
Prime Minister Edi Rama also congratulated Kadare for his award.
“Gratitude and respect for Ismail Kadare. Just at the start of 2016 which also corresponds to the 80th birthday of our internationally renowned writer, President François Hollande raised Ismail Kadare to the highest possible grade, that of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest decoration,” wrote Rama on social networks.
“Heartfelt wishes with gratitude and respect for the writer who has taken the Albanian language to previously untrodden peaks and has made his works to be read and admired in many languages,” he added.
The 17th century house of Albania’s internationally renowned writer Ismail Kadare in his hometown of Gjirokastra is on track to be turned into a museum by January 28, when the perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature celebrates his 80th birthday.
An internationally renowned poet, novelist and essayist, Ismail Kadare has been perennial candidate for the Nobel Prize for literature. His international acclaim for his works peaked in 2005 when he won the Man Booker International Prize.
Kadare, known for writing about Albania’s totalitarian government, has had his works translated into over 30 languages, the most famous of which is “The General of the Dead Army.”
Last May, Kadare was honored with a flag ceremony at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
Earlier this year, Kadare, was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for his works which best express and promote the idea of the “freedom of the individual in society.”