Diemen, Anton van

Diemen, Anton van

(än`tōn vän dē`mən), 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 TasmanTasman, Abel Janszoon
, 1603?–1659, Dutch navigator. In the service of the Dutch East India Company from c.1632 to 1653, he made several trading and exploring voyages in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
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 on exploring voyages. Tasman called an island that he found (1642) Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania).