Aryans

Aryan race and antisemitism

Christian Lassen (1800–1876), a student of Schlegel, glorified the ancient Aryans as "the most gifted" and "perfect in talent", attributing to them an unparalleled cultural and intellectual refinement. He contrasted the Aryans with the Semites, helping establish an intellectual dichotomy between the two groups that would later take on racial overtones by subsequent writers on the topic. In this tradition, French orientalist Ernest Renan (1823–1892) portrayed the Semites as 'non-Aryans' and the Aryans as a creative and progressive race destined to lead human civilization. Similarly, Swiss linguist Adolphe Pictet (1799–1875) described the Aryans as the providential race and direct ancestors of Europeans. Influenced by Lassen and Renan, he depicted a fundamental moral and spiritual opposition between the Semitic and the superior Aryan peoples.