The tale behind the face of a mysterious woman who saved millions of lives 150 years after her death

Some images, faces and artworks have gained iconic status over the course of centuries, but few people know about the weird or even morbid origin stories behind them. In the late 19th century, this anonymous woman's lifeless body was raised from a quay by the River Seine in Paris, and to this day she is known only as 'L'Inconnue de la Seine' or 'The Unknown Woman of the Seine.' However, doctors later said that she was about 16, given the firmness of her skin, and suspected suicide since there were no marks or signs of struggle on her. 

A pathologist at the Paris Morgue was so fascinated by her face that he made a wax plaster-cast death mask of her face. This move to preserve her memory later went on to save millions of lives in the centuries that followed.

The young woman's death continued to haunt artists and writers alike, who were captivated by her beauty and perplexed by the story. The popularity of the unknown woman also inspired a reproduction of the original cast made by the pathologist. Critic Al Alvarez wrote in his book The Savage God, "I am told that a whole generation of German girls modeled their looks on her."

Maurice Blanchot, the famous French writer and philosopher was also said to have owned one of her masks, and described her as  "a young girl with closed eyes, enlivened by a smile so relaxed and at ease ... that one could have believed that she drowned in an instant of extreme happiness".

Then in 1958, Laerdal Company, a company that made greeting cards and children's toys at the time, diversified into manufacturing resuscitation and emergency devices.

It all started when Asmund Laerdal, the owner of the company, started experimenting with a brand new kind of material called plastic, which had just been introduced and cleared for mass production. Around this time, Laerdal went through a personal crisis when his two-year-old son, Tore, nearly drowned. The toymaker was able to pull the boy from the water and perform CPR on the boy, which forced the water out of his airways and saved his life.

He was soon approached by a group of anesthesiologists, who told him that they wanted him to make a doll to demonstrate a newly developed resuscitation technique.

While Laerdal was already well versed when it came to making toys, he was struggling to make the face realistic, that's when he recalled L'Inconnue's face, which had stood the test of time. He gave this new mannequin L'Inconnue's face, along with adult dimensions, including a collapsible chest for compressions. 

Needless to say, the mannequin became so popular that it soon came to be known as Resusci Anne for millions, and earned the tag of the "most kissed girl" in the world.

Today, the Laerdal company estimates that two million lives have been saved by CPR, which all began with the unknown lady in Paris and her face. It is also known as the face of simulation in healthcare, championed initially by Laerdal.