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This is the DEATH MASK of a young woman who drowned in the River Seine in the 1880's. As was customary in those days, her corpse was put on display in the Paris mortuary, in the hope that someone might recognize her and claim her body. The pathologist on duty became entranced by the girl with the enigmatic half-smile, and so he commissioned a plaster cast made of her face. This mask was replicated many times over. She became known as "L'Inconnue de la Seine,” or “The Unknown Woman of the Seine.”
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In 1955, a toy maker named Asmund Laerdal created what we now know as the CPR doll. Asmund wanted his mannequin to have a natural appearance. Remembering a mask on the wall of his grandparents' house many years earlier, he decided that the L'Inconnue de la Seine would become the face of Resusci Anne. So you see, this anonymous woman who drowned in the 19th century is responsible for saving many, many lives the world over. It is said that she has the most kissed face of all time.
I hope you enjoyed this little histmed tale!
The death mask that has saved thousands of lives
