Anton Tien was born in Beirut, Syria, in 1834. He studied theology in Rome for several years but then converted to Anglicanism. He came to England with letters of introduction to William Gladstone who advised him to go to theological college. Therefore he entered St Augustine's College, Canterbury. During the Crimean War he was Oriental Secretary on Lord Baglan's staff. In 1860 he travelled to Constantinople as a priest where his knowledge of Middle Eastern languages enabled him to tutor both at missions schools and privately.
Tien acted as interpreter between a visiting Omani dignitary and representatives of Queen Victoria in 1886 and, in 1896, he was appointed Professor of Turkish at King's College, London, a position he held until 1913. He was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society. He died in 1920 in Sussex.