What is the Aryan race?

It is a concept that emerged in the 19th century and is now discredited. “The Aryan race would supposedly be the ‘purest’ lineage of human beings, consisting only of tall, strong, clear and intelligent individuals, thus representing, according to arbitrary criteria, a race superior to the others”, says biologist Danilo Vicensotto, from the University of São Paulo (USP). The word «Aryan» derives from arya («noble» in Sanskrit) and served to name a people of controversial origin. “Actually, the Aryans are not a race, but a linguistic group, better known as Indo-Europeans,” says historian Robert Rozett, from the Yad Vashem library in Israel. In the middle of the 19th century, the French diplomat and writer Count de Gobineau proposed the concept of the “Aryan race”, defending the superiority of whites over blacks, yellows and Semites.

Gobineau classified as “Aryans” the Nordic and Germanic peoples, who for him represented the apex of civilization, being responsible for all the progress of humanity throughout history. The ideas of the French count were accepted in Europe at the time, especially among German intellectuals. In Germany in the 20th century, the concept was assimilated by the Nazi Party and its leader Adolf Hitler, serving as the basis for the extermination policy of Jews and other “non-Aryan peoples”. After World War II (1939-1945), however, Gobineau’s concept was thoroughly repudiated by anthropologists. “In the biological field, the supposed qualities of the ‘Aryan race’ make no sense. The very concept of race is wrong. In the 19th century, it was believed that human beings could be classified into races according to their physical characteristics, but in fact the concept of race cannot be applied to humans,” says Danilo.