Frans Jacobszoon Visscher was a Dutch mariner and explorer, who voyaged as pilot-major on the first voyage of

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...

to the Southern Hemisphere, between August 1642 and 15 June 1643 and was a native of

Flushing, Netherlands Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

. He is known to have lived in the period 1623–1645. His first name may be written Franchoijs or Franchoys etc.; his middle name may be found sometimes abbreviated "Jacobsz." According to the specialist on Visscher and Abel Tasman, Michael Ross, Visscher had been in Asia about ten years before Tasman's great voyage. He was a mate and steersman on the Nassau fleet (1623-6) of Jacob L’Hermite and Hugo Schapeham. Visscher was therefore able to develop the proposal that would lead to Tasman's 1642 expedition, and he was an ideal person to choose as navigator. In 1642, Visscher published ''Memoir concerning the discovery of the South land''.

References

Dutch sailors Dutch explorers of the Pacific History of Tasmania 17th-century Dutch explorers {{explorer-stub