Julius Wolf, who founded the Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftsverein (Central European Economic Association) in 1904[1].
A body that coordinated trade between European countries through shared standards, arbitration panels, and expert committees.
Wolf started the association in 1904. It worked by getting countries to use the same standards, settle disputes through its arbitration panels, and rely on its expert committees. The record does not show that it had binding authority over member states, or that it held governmental or treaty authority.
It shows how trade rules can be written by a private body rather than by governments, even when they end up shaping what countries do.