What was the name of the woman identified in Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day kiss photograph?

Greta Zimmer Friedman was the woman identified in Eisenstaedt’s V-J Day kiss photograph.

Friedman was a dental assistant who was in Times Square on 14 August 1945 when a sailor suddenly kissed her during the celebrations. She later said she had not known the sailor and that the moment happened spontaneously amid the crowd. Alfred Eisenstaedt photographed the scene, but he did not record either subject’s name.

For years, several women claimed to be the woman in the picture. Friedman recognized herself when she saw the image in the 1960s, but the identification remained debated because the photograph did not clearly show her face. Later research, including comparisons with other frames and accounts from Friedman, supported her claim. The sailor was eventually identified as George Mendonsa.

Another woman, Edith Shain, was also widely associated with the image and appeared in public as a claimant. That is why the answer is often misstated. The woman in Eisenstaedt’s best-known photograph is Greta Zimmer Friedman, while Victor Jorgensen’s separate image shows the same event from a different viewpoint.