MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Prominent Russian writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya has been named an officer of the French Legion of Honour, the country’s highest honor.

Ulitskaya is expected to be awarded the medal, which traces its roots to Napoleon Bonaparte, at a formal ceremony to be attended by French Ambassador to Russia Jean-Maurice Ripert later on Friday.

“France pays homage to the spirit of freedom, openness and tolerance, which interfuse all her writings,” said Madeleine Courant, a press counsellor of the French Embassy in Russia.

Ulitskaya is the author of Kukotsky's Case novel, which was awarded Russian Booker Prize in 2001, Daniel Stein, Interpreter, and many others. Her works have been translated into over 30 languages. In 1994, France named Ulitskaya's first novella, Sonechka, the best translated book of the year.