Zdenko Runjić

Born on the 26th October 1942 in Slavonski Brod, Croatia Died on the 27th October 2004 in Krapinske Toplice, Croatia. In his long career, he established himself as the most prolific and most popular songwriter of the former Yugoslavia, now Croatia. Many of his songs, inspired by the folk traditions of Dalmatia, became classics and Runjić helped the careers of many notable Croatian musicians such as Oliver Dragojević and Doris Dragović. He was especially successful at the prestigious Split Music Festival. He wrote almost 700 songs and sold them in their millions on various LPs, tapes and CDs. More than 200 songs were written for Oliver Dragojević alone. Many of his songs were recorded across parts of the whole world. He received many important music awards for his opus. His song "Galeb i ja" is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful songs ever written and it became a unofficial anthem for Split and Dalmatia. He was also a businessman and had his own record company called GIS-Skalinada which became one of the most important record companies of Croatia. He is best remembered as a unique musician, a wonderful charismatic and brilliant man who created a unique sound that shaped the musical image of Croatia's Dalmatian coast region. Father of Ivana Runjić, married to Vedrana Runjić.