Seweryn received the title from the French Ambassador in Poland, Pierre Lévy, at a ceremony in Warsaw on Tuesday.
The Order of Arts and Letters (Ordre des Arts et des Lettres), established in 1957, is awarded each year by the French Minister of Culture to people who have significantly contributed to the enrichment of French culture.
The order has three grades - Knight, Officer, and the highest - Commander.
Born in 1946, Seweryn graduated from the Warsaw Drama School in 1968. He was a member of the city’s Ateneum Theatre company for 12 years, rising rapidly to become one of Poland’s most promising stars.
His lead roles in Andrzej Wajda’s films The Promised Land, The Conductor and Without Anesthesia, all made in the 1970s, also established his position in the cinema world.
Following the imposition of martial law in Poland in December 1981, Seweryn decided to remain in Paris, which he was visiting at the time.
He developed a fine career there, becoming the third non-French member of the Comédie-Française theatre, receiving prestigious awards from French critics and lecturing at drama schools in Paris and Lyon.
Seweryn returned to Poland in 2010. A year later he was appointed artistic director of the Polski Theatre in Warsaw and has held the post since.
His successes over the past decade include the Best Actor Award at the Polish Film Festival in 2016 for his role in Jan Matuszyński’s movie The Last Family.
(jh-mk/pk)
Source: PAP