Antoine Galland

Antoine Galland

Antoine Galland was a French polyglot and scholar who had interest in the Arab culture.  He lived from 1646 – 1715. He came from a family of little money, yet he was committed to studying and learning several oriental languages. He was studying in Paris when he was given the opportunity to travel to Levant (which is now Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel). This was just the beginning of his travels.  Soon after, he ventured off to: Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt. During his last trip he roamed for 10 years. The purpose of this trip was to collect manuscripts, and coins for the Bibliotheque Royale (the Royal Library of Belgium).

Over the years, Antoine perfected as many languages as he could.  His main focus was the Arab language. At this time this was very important because he was able to translate Arab oral history into French literature without having any information getting lost in translation. One of his accomplishments was fully translating the Qur’an.  Antoine also met with many of the oriental habitants to learn of any stories they knew, then he would turn them into French literature that we still learn about today. Some of his famous literatures include; Ali baba and the forty thieves, Aladdin, and many more that is part of Les Mille et une nuits (1001 nights).