Nikolaus Dumba

Nikolaus Dumba (24 July 1830, Vienna – 23 March 1900, Budapest) was an Austrian industrialist and liberal politician of Greek descent. He is considered to have been an important patron of the arts and music.

In 1817, Nikolaus' father Stergios, Greek immigrant to Vienna from Vlasti, Ottoman Empire then, today a city in Northern Greece, became a merchant. Nikolaus attended the Akademische Gymnasium and spent the revolutionary years of 1847-48 with his brother Michael at the residence of the Austrian Ambassador Anton von Prokesch-Osten in Athens. In 1852, he took a trip to Egypt with the travel writer Alexander Ziegler.

He was trained for a commercial career and took over a cotton mill in Tattendorf that had been operated by his cousin Theodore. It had approximately 180 employees and soon became a highly profitable enterprise. This financial base allowed him to turn his interests elsewhere. He was knighted and appointed to the legislature, where he was very active.

His son, Konstantin, was Austria-Hungary's last Ambassador to the United States.

He was a close friend of Hans Makart, Gustav Klimt and Carl Kundmann and was a strong promoter of contemporary art. He helped establish several monuments to famous composers of the past and served as a Vice-President of the Society of Friends of Music.

Dumba left 50,000 guilders to the Vienna Men's Choral Society in order to free them from financial concerns. In return, he asked that "from time to time, a choral work in remembrance of me should be performed in a church" and that "the money should never be used for a building". To this day, Franz Schubert's German Mass is often sung in his honor.

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