The relevance of the researched problem is determined by transformation of the human capital into the key economic resource of development of the postindustrial society. The purpose of the article is to disclose the content of evolution of the human capital as a scientific concept and phenomenon of the economic life. The leading approach to the studying of the problem of changes in ideas about the human capital is the evolutionary approach that allows us to identify the cause-and-effect relations between definitions of this concept and actual necessities of economic development. The author's hypothesis about the necessity of priority of the human capital and its intellectual component in the study of economic content was proved in the article. It is necessary for the subsequent quantitative analysis of interconnection between the human capital development and structural changes in the economy. In this research the original definition of the concept was formulated. The materials of the article can be useful for development and implementation of the policy of the innovative economic growth in regard to accumulation of the human capital.