Abel Janszoon Tasman (Esprios Classics)

Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 - 1659) was a Dutch seafarer explorer and merchant best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) Fiji and New Zealand. Abel Tasman was born around 1603 in Lutjegast a small village in the province of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. The oldest available source mentioning him is dated 27 December 1631 when as a seafarer living in Amsterdam the 28-year-old became engaged to marry 21-year-old Jannetje Tjaers of Palmstraat in the Jordaan district of the city.