Walter Rathenau, Germany (1867-1922)
Walter Rathenau was an industrialist and statesman, born in Berlin. Being an idealist, he criticised the tyranny of modern technology and advocated a decentralised economy featuring elements of capitalism and state planning.
He organised raw materials distribution during World War I, and in 1921, as minister of reconstruction, and after February 1922 as foreign minister, dealt with reparations and he negotiated the Rapollo Treaty recognising the Soviet Union. His attempts to negotiate a reparations agreement with the victorious Allies, and the fact that he was Jewish, made him extremely unpopular in nationalist circles, and he was murdered by anti-semitic extremists.