Emily Chan
After the body of an unidentified young woman was found in the Seine River in the late 1880s, the mortician became so entranced by her beauty that he created a plaster mask of her face.
Soon enough, this mysterious woman became famous throughout Paris. Her body was put on display at the public morgue, attracting thousands of visitors who wanted to catch a glimpse of her face. Reproductions of her head were mounted in homes across Paris.
The woman was called L’Inconnue de la Seine, which translates to the Unknown Woman of the Seine. As the story goes, the young lady had moved to Paris from the countryside.
She fell in love, but the romance didn’t work out for some reason. So, she resorted to throwing herself off a bridge and drowning in the Seine River. When her body was discovered, no one came to claim her.
Experts believe she was about 16-years-old when she died. Her face was peaceful and serene, even in death. She also had a half smile that resembled the Mona Lisa’s.
There were no suspicious marks on her body. It is assumed that she had taken her own life.
However, doctors don’t know for certain whether this is the case. The circumstances surrounding her death and background are still a mystery today.
In 1960, an Austrian doctor named Peter Safar was developing a new method for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. He contacted a Norwegian toy maker, Asmund Laerdal, to help him create the first CPR doll.
Laerdal was motivated to help build a dummy because he had nearly lost his son to drowning.
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