The Leprous. The History of a Leprosarium

Georgy Ivanovich Shilin (1896–1938) — a Soviet prose writer, participant of World War I. His first book was positively evaluated by Maxim Gorky, and the peak of his creativity came in the 1920s–30s, after which the author was forgotten for a long time.

The most famous novel by Georgy Shilin is "The Leprous." The writer was compelled to dive into the study of the fight against leprosy, this terrible and mythologized disease, due to a personal story: when he returned to his hometown for a while, Shilin wanted to visit an old friend, but learned that he was ill and had been placed in a leprosarium. Thus, the writer found himself in the "sick courtyard" for the first time and lived among lepers for several days. Subsequently, Shilin visited leprosariums in different cities of the USSR several times, and for his novel, he studied available medical literature, consulted with prominent specialists, and even participated in the work of the congress of leprologists.
In addition to a serious scientific basis, the novel stands out with vibrant, living characters of its heroes: the sick, whose social lives have been cut off, although they continue to exist physically, often already without hope of ever leaving the leprosarium; doctors, selflessly devoted to science and their work, refusing to back down in the face of one of the oldest known diseases to mankind.