Gustav Ernesaks (12 December 1908 – 24 January 1993) was an Estonian composer and a choir conductor.

[1] Gustav Ernesaks was born on 12 December 1908 in Perila, Estonia.

He was educated at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre where he was a pupil of Juhan Aavik and Artur Kapp.

[2] Ernesaks played an integral role in the Singing Revolution and was one of the father figures of the Estonian Song Festival tradition.

One of his songs, a setting of Lydia Koidula's poem Mu isamaa on minu arm, became an unofficial national anthem during the years of Estonian SSR.