L'Inconnue de la Seine, Resusci-Anne, and "the most kissed face of all time"

[ThelmaLou]

This is mind-boggling and a bit chilling. To achieve a kind of anonymous immortality this way…it leaves one… I don’t know, speechless, stunned, full of questions, staring into the middle distance.

The face of the Resusci-Anne “doll” that is used in CPR training is-- was-- the face of a real woman… a girl, actually, estimated to be 16 at the time of her death.

The incredible story from the BBCis here:

Millions of people around the world have learned CPR on a mannequin known as Resusci Anne. The story of the 19th Century beauty behind the model - or at least, one version of it - will be told at a symposium in London to mark European Restart a Heart Day. But does anyone really know anything about her?..<snip> Some time in the late 19th Century, the drowned body of a young woman was recovered from the River Seine. As was customary in those days, her body was put on display at the Paris mortuary, in the hope that someone would recognise and identify her. …MORE

More on L’Inconnue de la Seine:

L’Inconnue de la Seine (French for “The Unknown Woman of the Seine”) was an unidentified young woman whose putative death mask became a popular fixture on the walls of artists’ homes after 1900. Her visage inspired numerous literary works…<snip>…The face of the unknown woman was used for the head of the first aid mannequin Resusci Anne. It was created by Peter Safar and Asmund Laerdal in 1958 and was used starting in 1960 in numerous CPR courses. Therefore, the face has been called by some “the most kissed face” of all time.

From the BBC article quoted above:

Through Resusci Anne, students of first aid have for more than 50 years been trying to bring back to life the young woman from the Seine.

[Slithy_Tove]

We’ve lost the appreciation for the macabre that people of the 19th C. allowed themselves. A Peruvian mummy on display in Paris inspired Gauguin and Edvard Munch.

At least we don’t sentimentalize poverty as they also did. Or do we?

[Sattua]

I saw this story on Mysteries at the Museum, I believe. Fascinating. I’ve kissed her, myself

At least we don’t sentimentalize poverty as they also did. Or do we?

Forgive me for feeling that this is exactly what we’re doing every time there’s a fad for rich people proving they can live on food-stamp amounts of groceries.

[Boyo_Jim]

I hate to think what organs Barbie dolls are exposed to.

[stillownedbysetters]

Although the story itself is a sad one, I think it’s a bit wonderful that this unknown, unloved, young woman has attained a kind of immortality and an importance that she never experienced in life. Thousands of people daily make a symbolic effort to save her, when she probably died hopeless, alone, unmissed and unregretted, throwing herself off a bridge into the Seine.

I’m sure one of us who is more of a philosopher than practical old me can tell us what type of metaphor this represents.

[ThelmaLou]

@stillownedbysetters

Although the story itself is a sad one, I think it’s a bit wonderful that this unknown, unloved, young woman has attained a kind of immortality and an importance that she never experienced in life. Thousands of people daily make a symbolic effort to save her, when she probably died hopeless, alone, unmissed and unregretted, throwing herself off a bridge into the Seine.

…

Yes, you have expressed my thoughts perfectly!

Maybe the lesson is that your life (or death) may have meaning-- great meaning-- that you will never know and can’t possibly imagine.