Eduard Tubin (18 June 1905 – 17 November 1982) was an Estonian composer, conductor, and choreographer.
Tubin was born in Torila, Tartu County, Governorate of Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire. Both his parents were music lovers, and his father played trombone in the village band. His first taste of music came at school where he learned the flute. Later, his father swapped a cow for a piano, and the young Eduard soon became known in the village for his playing. Eduard also played flute in the village orchestra.Tubin entered the Tartu Teacher's College in the newly independent Estonia in 1920. It was here he began to take an interest in composition. In 1924 he was admitted to the Tartu Higher Music School starting his studies under the guidance of the famous Estonian composer Heino Eller. He married a fellow student, Linda Pirn, in 1930 and their son Rein was born in 1932. Tubin took up work conducting in the Vanemuine theatre. During this time he also conducted one of the best-known male choirs and made several trips abroad. In 1938 he met Zoltán Kodály in Hungary, who encouraged his interest in folk songs. In 1941 he married the ballet dancer Erika Saarik. Their son Eino was born in 1942.