Jakov Gotovac (11th Oct 1895, Split / 16th Oct 1982, Zagreb, Croatia) - Croatian composer and conducter. He is the author of the most famous Croatian opera, the comic Ero s onoga svijeta (engl. Ero the Joker), which 1st was performed in Zagreb, in 1935. Gotovac started as a law student in Zagreb, but soon switched to writing music in 1920. In Vienna he studied in the class of Johan Marx. In 1922 he founded the Philharmonia Society in Šibenik. In 1923 he moved to Zagreb where he kept working both as conductor and composer until his death. Between 1923 and 1958 he was the opera conductor of the Croatian National Theatre and leader of the academic musical society Mladost as well as of the Vladimir Nazor Choire. Father of Pero Gotovac.