EN
The present study deals with the analysis of the concept of “blackness” and its meaning and impact on theories of race and racism. The concept of “blackness” (black skin) was used for both external and internal characteristic of a “black group” (or “race”). The study describes the formation of the concept from ancient times, through the Middle Ages to modern times, when it became a basis for emerging theories of race. The reader will get an overview on the etymology of both concepts: “blackness” and “race”. We will analyse the impact of these concepts on the theories of the Swedish botanist Carl Linné (Carolus Linnaeus, 1707 – 1778), the German physician and naturalist J. F. Blumenbach (1752 – 1840), the German physiologist of the Romantic era C. G. Carus (1789 – 1869) and the French diplomat A. Gobineau (1816 – 1882).