Diemen, Anton van

Diemen, Anton van (än'tōn vän dē'mun) [key], 1593–1645, Dutch colonial official. As governor-general for the Dutch East India Company in the East Indies after 1636, he captured Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Malacca from the Portuguese. He sent Abel Tasman on exploring voyages. Tasman called an island that he found (1642) Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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