Van Diemen's Land

Van Diemen's Land is the original name for Tasmania, the island state of Australia. It was named in honor of Anthonio van Diemen, Governor General of India for the Dutch East India Company, who sent Abel Tasman out on his voyage of discovery. It was changed in 1856 to honour Tasman, the first European to discover the island, and possibly also to remove the association with the severe penal colony that the original name evoked.