Galland, Antoine

Antoine Galland (1646-1715), French orientalist and numismatist, was born at Rollot, Picardy, and studied at Noyon and Paris. He learnt modern Greek, Turkish, Perisan and Arabic on travels to the East during the 1670s and 1680s, first as secretary of the ambassador de Nointel, and then as Louis XIV's agent to collect manuscripts and medals. He was appointed to the chair of Arabic at the College of France in 1709. Gallard wrote on coins and inscriptions of Greek and Latin antiquity. He also translated the tales of The Arabian nights (1704-1717). He died in Paris in 1715.

Epithet: French Numismatist