South African writer receives 'Legion of Honour' 02/04/2007 00:00

JOHANNESBURG, March 31, 2007 (AFP) - South African novelist and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, whose work addresses the struggle against apartheid, received France's Legion of Honour Saturday at a ceremony in her home country.

"By making you an officer of the Legion of Honour, we also wish to pay tribute to a symbolic figure of the fight against apartheid," said French ambassador in South Africa Denis Pietton.

"Your work, deeply marked by the situation in South Africa, remains universal," Pietton said.

The ceremony took place at the French embassy in Pretoria.

Born in the mining town of Springs in 1923, Gordimer has lived in South Africa all her life, unlike other writers who fled the country under apartheid.

Three of her novels were banned by the apartheid regime, which ended with the election of Nelson Mandela as president in 1994.

She published her first novel, Come Again Tomorrow, when she was 15. Her later work describes the complexities of post-apartheid South Africa.

Gordimer was awarded the Nobel prize in literature in 1991. She has written 15 novels and more than 200 short stories.

In October 2006, she was the victim of an armed burglary in her house in Johannesburg. Addressing the country's high crime rate, she said all solutions must involve education, training and employment.

Copyright AFP

Subject: French news