Ernst Gottlieb Baron or Ernst Theofil Baron (17 February 1696 – 12 April 1760), was a German lutenist, composer and writer on music. Baron was born in Breslau into the family of Michael Baron, a maker of gold lace who expected his son to follow in his footsteps. Baron showed an inclination to music from an early age, and later made it his profession. He studied lute from about 1710 with a Bohemian named Kohott. He attended the Elisabeth Gymnasium in Breslau, and from 1715 the University of Leipzig, where he studied philosophy and law.