Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman
Born	1603 Lutjegast, Netherlands
Died	October 10 1659 Batavia
Occupation(s)	Sailor, Explorer, Merchant

Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603–1659) was a Dutch sea explorer. He found Tasmania and New Zealand while on voyages in 1642 and 1644, in the service of the VOC (Dutch East India Company). He also made the first historical sightings of large parts of Australia.

He was born in Lutjegast, Netherlands. He went to Batavia (now called Jakarta) to work for the VOC in 1633. He went back to Holland in 1636. He went back to Batavia with his wife, Jannetie Tjaerss, two years later. He went north to Japan in 1640. In 1642 Tasman went south to Palembang.^[1]

1. ↑ The Australian Encyclopaedia: Volume 8. 1958. p. 423–424.