Use of passive in biographical writing

Hi,

What is the possible reason to use a passive tense in what could be one of preliminary sentences in an "not a real" article purposes to tell who this person is. To me, the sentence could be in active like "Throughout her life, People saw Jane Doe as a warm adn motherly person." Could a possible reason be not to place emphasis on the person who performed the action and put more atteotion on the action?

Throughout her life, Jane Doe was seen as a warm and motherly person. When she first went to America, she ...