Charlotte Chopin, 101, was conferred with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, during the Padma Awards 2024 held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday.
Chopin, who hails from France, has been a yoga instructor for over four decades and was given the award for “challenging the norms of age limit by learning yoga after the age of 50”.
“President Draupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Shri in the field of Yoga to Mrs. Charlotte Chopin. She is a renowned French yoga teacher. Mrs. Chopin has been teaching yoga for over four decades and is active as a yoga teacher even at the age of 101,” reads President Draupadi Murmu’s official post.
The renowned fitness personality started teaching yoga in France in 1982. She soon created a wave of yoga in France and made it a prominent fitness practice in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi first met Charlotte Chopin in Paris last year when he visited France to attend the Bastille Day parade. Prime Minister Modi praised Chopin’s deep faith in yoga and her phenomenal work in promoting the practice in France.