The monograph was based on a course of lectures given by the author at St. Petersburg University and other educational institutions of St. Petersburg, Russia and the world. Denoting the subject of research as the history of anthropology or anthropological teachings, ideas, or anthropological thought, the author generally understands anthropology as a whole complex of sciences aimed at a comprehensive study of a person, thereby offering a history of studying and understanding the variability of forms of human culture and society, in particular ethnic forms.