Samantha Smith

    Samantha Smith was born on June 29, 1972, in Houlton, Maine, a small town on the border of America and Canada. She was a peace activist and an actress. Her father, Arthur Smith, was an instructor at Ricker College. Samantha's mother, Jane Reed, was a social worker with the Maine Department of Human Services.

Cover of Time, November 22, 1982 (http://www.samanthasmith.info/index.php/history ())

    Yuri Andropov became the leader of the Soviet Union in November 1982. At that time, most of the articles which were written about him was negative and gave huge threats to the world. He suppressed people who got opposite voices from him. The relationship between Soviet and America was even tenser after that. At the time, both Soviet and America put in lots of efforts to develop weapons which were capable to be launched from satellites into orbit. During this time, large anti-nuclear activists protested across Europe and North America. The Soviet Union involved in a war in Afghanistan for three years, which also contributed to international tension. On November 22, 1982, Time magazine published a magazine with Andropov on its cover.

Samantha Smith with the letter from Andropov (http://railbirds.com/blogpost/280651/82515-----tod ())

    When Samantha Smith saw the edition of Time magazine with Andropov, she decided to write a letter to Yuri Andropov, the leader of Soviet Union in November 1982, when Smith was 10 years old: 

Samantha with Soviet children (http://www.samanthasmith.info/index.php/history ())

    On July 7, 1983, she went to Moscow, Soviet Union, with her parents, and visited there for two weeks. She visited many places in Moscow, like Artek, the main Soviet pioneer camp. She was amazed by all the friendly people and all the presents which people made for her. Samantha Smith stayed with the Soviet children during the trip and went swimming and learned Russian songs and dances. She made many friends in Soviet Union, one of the best was Natasha Kashirina. Lots of photographs and articles about her were published during her trip. Samantha Smith became well-known to Soviet citizens and was paid close attention to by them.

The Statue of Samantha Smith (http://flickriver.com/photos/jstephenconn/27670700 ())

    In December 1983, she continued her role as "America's Youngest Ambassador", and she was invited to Japan. She said that Soviet and American leaders should exchange granddaughters for two weeks, to communicate and exchange ideas. On August 25, 1985, Samantha Smith and six other passengers were killed in a plane crush. However, even after her death, her name and her image was still remembered by everyone in the Soviet Union. People said that she was "like millions of Soviet young men and women, dreamt about peace, and about friendship between the peoples of the United States and the Soviet Union." Many places and things were named after her, like monuments, streets, museums. Her spirit is still in the heart of all of us.