(JTA) — American-Jewish author Philip Roth was awarded France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius presented the award to Roth on Friday in New York.

The award recognizes civilians and soldiers. Roth was granted the title of commander, the French news agency AFP reported.

“France is giving you back what you have given to my country,” Fabius said, according to AFP.

Roth, the author of nearly 30 novels, has and won numerous literary prizes. They include two National Book Awards, two National Book Critics Circle Awards, three PEN/Faulkner Awards and the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

He told a French magazine last year that he was done writing fiction.