Why This Corpse Will Probably Save Your Life

In the late 1800s in Paris, something quite mysterious happened. Imagine finding a young girl's lifeless body in a beautiful river called the Seine. She looked about 16 years old, and people thought she might have drowned, maybe even on purpose. They tried to figure out who she was, but no one knew her name, and nobody ever came to claim her. So, she remained a big mystery.

This girl, known as the "Unknown Woman of the Seine," ended up having a very strange and surprising adventure. Even though she was unknown and no longer alive, she became famous in an unusual way and inspired many great artists like Pablo Picasso and writers.

This story begins in a place called a morgue. A morgue is where they keep the bodies of people who have passed away. In Paris, the morgue was not like the quiet, solemn place you might imagine. It was quite the opposite. It was located near a famous cathedral, and it was actually a popular tourist attraction. People from all over would come to see the bodies of those who had passed away. These bodies were displayed like museum exhibits, sometimes even dressed up in fancy clothes to make them look lifelike. As strange as it sounds, this was done to help find the families of the unidentified dead.

But there was something curious about people. We tend to be fascinated by unusual things, so many visitors came, not just families looking for their loved ones. It became so famous that it appeared in guidebooks and newspapers. People could read about a crime in the morning and then visit the morgue in the afternoon. It was quite a strange way to spend a day.

The Unknown Woman of the Seine wasn't one of the morgue's star attractions, but she drew a lot of attention. People wanted to see her because she was a young girl, and in those days, that was quite rare. One of the morgue workers, someone who helped with the bodies, became really interested in her. He even took a plaster cast of her face to keep in his own home. That might sound creepy, but it was a way to remember what she looked like, just in case someone came looking for her family. So, he didn't mean to be weird; he was trying to help.

This cast of her face, or a mask, ended up in people's homes all over Paris. It was a very peaceful and almost happy expression, and it captured people's hearts, especially those who loved to create things like stories, paintings, and sculptures. Many famous artists and writers made up stories about who she was, and her face hung in their homes. They even noticed that her face looked a bit like the famous Mona Lisa painting, which is in the Louvre Museum not far from where the Unknown Woman was found.

As time passed, the mask's popularity faded. But about 65 years later, something incredible happened. Doctors were trying to teach people a life-saving technique called CPR. It's like first aid for people whose hearts have stopped. They needed a way to practice this tricky skill, and they came up with the idea of using a life-sized doll. This doll would help people learn how to save lives.

A toy maker named Åsmund Laerdal was asked to make the doll, and he remembered the beautiful face from the Unknown Woman of the Seine. He used her face to create the doll, and it was named Resusci Anne. It became the first ever patient simulator. Over the years, it trained millions of people in CPR, saving many lives. This is why she's called "the most kissed person in the world." People all over the world used this doll to practice CPR.

In fact, the doll's name, "Annie, are you OK?" from the famous Michael Jackson song "Smooth Criminal" is a reference to Resusci Anne and, in a way, the Unknown Woman of the Seine. It's a bit of a mystery whether Michael Jackson knew this, but it's a fun connection between the past and the present.

Some people wonder if the Unknown Woman of the Seine was really found in the river or if there's more to her story. Her face is very well-preserved, and that's unusual for a body that spent time in the water. Some think she may have been a model, someone with tuberculosis, or the daughter of a mask maker. But we may never know for sure. What we do know is that she had a very unique and surprising afterlife, leaving her mark on history in the most unexpected way.