Tributes to Brigitte Bardot, an icon of French cinema, poured in on Sunday following the announcement of her death at the age of 91. Below are a selection.FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON“Her films, her voice, her dazzling fame, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne – Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom. A French existence, a universal radiance. She moved us. We mourn a legend of the century.”(Bardot’s face was used as the model for an official bust of Marianne, an allegorical female figure who symbolizes the values of the French Republic, which was installed in town halls across the country from the late 1960s onward.)THE BRIGITTE BARDOT FOUNDATION“Mrs Brigitte Bardot (was) a world-renowned actress and singer, who chose to give up her prestigious career in order to devote her life and energy to the defence of animals and to her Foundation,” it said.“The Brigitte Bardot Foundation wishes to honour the memory of an exceptional woman who gave everything and gave up everything for a world more respectful of animals.”FRENCH ACTOR PIERRE ARDITI“She wasn’t just one of the most beautiful women in the world – she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and she still is, in fact,” he said.“She had a courage that men still don’t reference, and if she cared so deeply about animals … it’s probably because she had been disappointed by men – all men – and I understand that. We are relatively disappointing.”