Stories about the kind doctor Fedor Petrovich Gaaz are still told in hospitals and prisons in Moscow, but the facts of his life are known to few.

In his life, there was no foreign pain and no bad people. He did not start a family, believing that he could not devote enough time to the outcasts: convicts, the poor, the sick. Although he was a Catholic, the strict zealot of Orthodoxy, Saint Philaret (Drozdov), blessed him to pray for his health.

Fedor Petrovich Gaaz (Friedrich Joseph) was born in Germany in 1780 into a pharmacist's family. Possessing brilliant abilities and a good education, he graduated from a Catholic school at 15, from the philosophy and mathematics faculty of the Jena Institute at 17, and from the medical faculty of the University of Vienna at 20. In Russia, he continued his medical practice and scientific research.

In the 1810s, Gaaz went to the North Caucasus to study mineral springs, systematized the available data, wrote a scientific treatise and a book. He discovered a spring in Zheleznovodsk (now Yessentuki), which today bears the name "Gaaz Spring No. 23."

Upon returning to Moscow, Gaaz worked in the Pavlov and Preobrazhensky hospitals. During the Patriotic War of 1812, he served in the Russian army, reached Paris, and on the way back visited his native Munsterayfel to care for his sick father, who soon died.

His mother and brothers urged him to stay in Germany, but Gaaz replied that his homeland was Russia, and he wanted to live there. After his return, he never left Russia again.

Interestingly, Gaaz began to learn Russian only after the 1812 war. Before that, he spoke only German and Latin, using the services of a translator. Soon he mastered Russian so well that he corrected the mistakes of officials.

Gaaz wore conservative German-style clothing: a black frock coat, velvet pantaloons, white stockings, shoes with steel buckles, and a white wig. Later, the wig became red, and then he began to cut his hair short, always remaining neat.

In 1825, Gaaz was appointed chief physician of Moscow, tasked with improving the city's medical facilities. In a year of his work, Moscow's medical institutions transformed: cleanliness was established, theft decreased, and officials attended to their duties. However, the bureaucratic spirit of the officials did not match his service, and faced with complaints, Gaaz requested resignation, deciding that he would be of more benefit as a simple doctor.

But he did not work as a simple doctor for long. At that time, a prison reform was being prepared in Russia, and a prison committee was formed, headed by Alexander Golitsyn. The history of the committee's creation is associated with John Howard, who in the 18th century created the penitentiary system that lasted about 180 years. Howard proposed the division of prisons into male, female, and juvenile offenders, as well as mandatory feeding of prisoners.

Based on the results of Howard's survey of Russian prisons, a note was compiled, on the basis of which Emperor Alexander I ordered a prison reform. The charter of the All-Russian Prison Society was drafted, which was to provide assistance to prisoners and their families.

In 1818, Alexander I approved the charter, appointing Golitsyn as president of the society. In Moscow, the society's branch opened nine years later, and the vice president became Governor-General Dmitry Golitsyn. Spiritual affairs were overseen by Metropolitan Philaret. Gaaz was invited to the position of secretary of the society, where he served almost until the end of his life.

Gaaz's first reforms were carried out in the Vladimir transit prison, increasing the length of stay for prisoners, expanding the prison, and dividing the barracks. He established a hospital for 120 beds and a small church, funded by charitable donations.

Gaaz replaced heavy shackles with lighter, leather-lined ones to avoid injuring prisoners' legs. He personally tested new models, walking in them for a week. The Ministry of Internal Affairs long resisted this innovation, but in the end, victory remained with Gaaz. Grateful prisoners erected a monument to him, the fence of which was made from convict chains.

In the cells, Gaaz installed bunks with mattresses and pillows, and placed seriously ill individuals and women in carts. He insisted on ending the practice of shaving half the heads of prisoners and organized the distribution of loaves that did not stale for a long time.

A semi-stage was arranged at the Rogozhskaya Zastava, where prisoners could rest and receive provisions. Gaaz often received complaints, and he had to explain his actions. Once he was accused of attempting to organize an escape, but he was saved by the patronage of Philaret and Golitsyn.

The next prison where Gaaz implemented his reforms was Butyrka. He changed everything, planting poplars in the yards, installing tiled floors and armored beds, and building a church. Workshops and a hotel for relatives of prisoners were arranged at the prison.

A shelter and school were created for the children of prisoners. Funding came from charitable foundations, and Gaaz organized the distribution of funds similarly to a thieves' common fund.

Gaaz created an institute of informants who dealt with the processing and promotion of prisoners' requests. They could stay for free in monasteries by the order of Philaret.

Once, Nicholas I visited Butyrka prison, and Gaaz asked him to grant amnesty to old prisoners. The emperor was touched and released five.

Gaaz was a wealthy man but gradually spent his fortune helping those in need. His schedule was very tight: he got up early, prayed, received patients, visited prisons and hospitals, and in the evening received patients again.

He lived in a prison building on Sparrow Hills, in two small rooms. He bought only old horses for his carriage, condemned to slaughter.

Muscovites recognized Gaaz from afar by his long coat. Legends about him circulated even during his lifetime, but they began to be recorded only after his death.

Once, Gaaz was attacked by robbers, but upon recognizing him, they apologized and escorted him to a patient. After that, they vowed not to rob, and one of them became a stoker in Gaaz's hospital.

Saint Philaret supported Gaaz and extinguished complaints against him. Once, hearing about Gaaz's defense of recidivists, Philaret said: "No one is imprisoned without guilt." Gaaz replied: "And what about Christ?" This strengthened their friendship.

Gaaz was also engaged in publishing, distributing books among prisoners. He published a booklet for children about decency and helping others.

Doctor Gaaz helped the poor by discreetly giving them wallets, like Saint Nicholas. When he died in 1853, Metropolitan Philaret himself served a prayer for him, despite canonical obstacles.

Twenty thousand people saw Gaaz off on his last journey. A stone with the inscription "hurry to do good" and a cross were placed on his grave. Former prisoners wove the fence of the grave with shackles.