Yves Saint-Laurent awarded high French honour

PARIS, July 14 (Reuters) French President Nicolas Sarkozy today awarded haute couture fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent the title of Great Officer in the Legion of Honour as part of a batch of annual Bastille Day decorations.

Saint-Laurent, born in 1936 in Oran in Algeria, had already been made a Commander in the Legion of Honour by former President Jacques Chirac.

Saint-Laurent, who lives in seclusion with his partner Pierre Berge and is in poor health, was admitted to the American Hospital in Paris earlier this week, but today the hospital said he was no longer there.

The bespectacled Saint-Laurent, whose creations were admired around the world, ruled the French fashion scene from the age of 21 until his retirement in 2002.

Other national day awards included the Great Cross of the Legion of Honour for Antoine Bernheim, a leading figure in the French financial world who worked at asset management firm Lazard and is president of the Italian insurance group Generali.

Bernheim, born in 1924, had been a Great Officer of the Legion since 1999.

Athlete Alain Mimoun, born in 1921 and an Olympic Games competitor from 1951 to 1960, was also made a Great Officer.

REUTERS CS RK1920