Greta Zimmer Friedman, who featured in the iconic photograph kissing a US sailor at Times Square, died of pneumonia on Thursday at 92.
Friedman who fled Austria during the World War II at the age of 15, passed away at a hospital in Virginia.
Friedman was 21-years-old when she became part of one of the most historic picture clicked on August 14, 1945 (Valentine’s Day), the day Japan surrendered to the United States ending World War II.
There have been lots of debate surrounding the identity of the woman who relentlessly gives into the sailor’s arm as he kisses her passionately.
The historic moment was captured by former Associated Press photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt, who was working for the Life magazine at that time.
Of late, the photograph became popular and one of the iconic pictures of the 20th century.
After several claims, the identities of the duo kissing in the photograph was established as George Mendonsa and Greta Zimmer Friedman around 1980.
According to reports, a huge crowd had come out on streets to celebrate the end of World War II. It is then the ecstatic sailor Mendonsa caught hold of Friedman and planted a kiss.
Eisenstaedt named the picture “V-J Day in Times Square” but it more popularly known as “The Kiss” among masses.
