Ismail Mahomed, an Indian-origin art lover and playwright in South Africa has been conferred knighthood by the French government for his lifelong devotion to the promotion of arts. He was bestowed with ‘The Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres’ (Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature) by French Ambassador Elisabet Barbier in Johannesburg.

Ismail Mahomed

• Mahomed is the Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, Mahomed has received numerous other awards in his 30-year career.
• He has also been honoured with Merit Honour Award from the US State Department’s Africa Bureau for consistent high cultural programming.
• In 1999, he received the Premier’s Award for developing and promoting the arts and culture sector as an economic enterprise in the South African province of Mpumalanga.

Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature

• The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and its supplementary status to the Ordre national du Mérite was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963.
• Its purpose is the recognition of significant contributions to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.
• The French Government’s Order has three grades:
  • Commandeur (Commander) — medallion worn on necklet; up to twenty recipients a year.
  • Officier (Officer) — medallion worn on ribbon with rosette on left breast; up to sixty recipients a year.
  • Chevalier (Knight) — medallion worn on ribbon on left breast; up to 200 recipients a year.