26. John Doscas (1866-1946), produce merchant
John Doscas was born in Sparta, Greece and migrated to Melbourne, Australia in the 1890s, arriving in Perth in 1896. He was a produce merchant and was responsible for the introduction of Saanen goats to the State.
Doscas served on the Cottesloe Town Council for 46 years, including a term as mayor of Cottesloe. He lived in John Street, Cottesloe and was close friends with his neighbour William Zimpel. Doscas and Zimpel were responsible for the planting of the Norfolk Island pine trees at Cottesloe that have become a landscape feature along the coast of Western Australia.
John Doscas was fluent in a number of languages and also benefitted from marriage to an Anglo-Australian woman who provided the necessary social contacts into Perth society. John Doscas was a wealthy and influential leader in the Greek community and was responsible for the allocation of land for the Greek Orthodox community at Karrakatta Cemetery in 1906.