Born in 1933, Garlan studied at the École normale supérieure[2] and earned an agrégation in history.
[3] A specialist in the Hellenistic period, he was a professor at Rennes 2 University.
His studies on the stamp systems of Thasos, Sinope, and Heraclea Pontica were highly notable.
[citation needed] In February 1979, Garlan was one of 34 signatories of a declaration written by Léon Poliakov Pierre Vidal-Naquet to dismantle the historical negationism of Robert Faurisson.
[4] In 1991, he became a correspondent of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.