Doumba Nikolaou Municipal Park

A great benefactor of Serres, Nikolaos Doumbas was born in Vienna in 1830, the son of Stergios Doubas and Maria Kourtis. His grandfather had settled in Serres. His father, Stergios, a cotton and textile merchant, created the “House of Duba”, one of the most prosperous in Vienna. He graduated from the Vienna High School. Art was his great passion and he especially supported the artists of Vienna. Throughout his life he made many benefactions, the main one being the construction of the Vienna Music Hall. In 1863 he married Maria Manou-Doubas, who died in 1936, and from their marriage they had a daughter, Irini, who suffered from health problems and died in 1920. Doubas also fought for the promotion of Greek interests in Macedonia . The benevolences he performed during his life are noteworthy. He offered grants to Greek schools and especially in Serres, he contributed significantly to the construction of the Austrian Parliament, the university, the Academy of Arts, the Vienna City Hall, the St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna as well as the Vienna Music Hall. In Serres, he donated, for the Foundation and operation of the Doumpeio Kindergarten, the building and a monetary donation, for the construction of an Alternative Education school building in 1835, 1,000 grosias, according to the testimony of Metropolitan Fourtouniadis. For housing the first Girls’ Kindergarten in 1853, he secured the Kindergarten building. The Kindergarten was later moved to the building of the new Doumpeio Kindergarten, while in 1900, and shortly before his death, he finally bequeathed 30,000 francs to the Serres Hospital. On March 23, 1900, he died of an acute heart attack in Budapest.