Tomislav Ladan (June 25, 1932 – September 12, 2008) was a Croatian writer, critic, translator, and novelist.

Ladan was born in Ivanjica, Serbia, and grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina, his homeland, where he studied at the Philosophical Faculty in Sarajevo. Because of his strong Croatian identity, he faced difficulty finding permanent work in the cultural field of Bosnia, which was mostly controlled by Serbs at the time. Ladan worked as a private tutor, translator, and journalist for many years until Miroslav Krleža, a respected Croatian writer, helped him find a job at the Yugoslav Lexicographical Institute in Zagreb. Later, Ladan became the director of the institute and led the creation of an eight-language dictionary.

Ladan wrote many essay books that explored a wide range of topics, including the use of swearing in Croatian, detailed studies of words that describe human culture from religion to globalization (Riječi, "Words"), and the spiritual traditions of the medieval period (Parva medievalia).

His only novel, Bosanski grb ("Bosnian coat of arms") (1975), is a postmodernist story that combines playful language and a discussion about the history of Croats in central Bosnia.

Over more than 40 years, Ladan reviewed nearly all books written in Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian. His critiques often surprised the authors he wrote about. He admired writers such as T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Frank Kermode but did not focus much on the ideas of deconstructionists like Jacques Derrida or Michel Foucault, whom he believed lacked depth. He also wrote important essays about authors like William Faulkner and Robert Musil.

Ladan was also a skilled translator of works from Greek, Latin, English, German, Swedish, and Norwegian.