Race

Introduction

Born in Edinburgh in 1791, Robert Knox was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist and popular lecturer on the subject of race. Like many other Europeans of the time he believed that race was the greatest single determinant of behaviour and character and that literature, science, art and civilization all depended upon it. “The Races of Men”, his popular lecture tour of 1846, visited Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle, with his forthright and highly negative comments on Jews provoking much debate in the press. He published The Races of Men, his comprehensive evaluation and classification of all known human races, in 1850. Despite his manifest racism, some have recently argued that Knox used his theories to critique colonialism. Knox died in Hackney, London, in 1862.

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