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Samantha Smith

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Historical figures

               Samantha Smith
               Samantha Smith
         Born June 29, 1972
              Houlton, Maine, USA
      Died    August 25, 1985
              Lewiston- Auburn, Maine, USA
   Occupation peace activist, child actor

   Samantha Reed Smith ( June 29, 1972 – August 25, 1985) was an American
   schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine who was called "America's Youngest
   Ambassador" in the United States and the "Goodwill Ambassador" in the
   Soviet Union during her lifetime. She became famous in these two
   countries and well-known worldwide after writing a letter to the Soviet
   Communist Party General Secretary Yuri Andropov during the Cold War,
   and receiving a reply from Andropov which included a personal
   invitation to visit the Soviet Union, which Smith accepted. Assisted by
   extensive mass media attention in both countries, she participated in
   peacemaking activities in Japan after her visit to the Soviet Union,
   wrote a book and co-starred in a television series before her death in
   an airplane crash.

Biography

Early years

   Smith was born in Houlton, Maine, and lived there with her parents,
   Arthur and Jane. She enjoyed field hockey, roller skating, reading, and
   science, and played on her school's softball team. At the age of five
   she wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth II, telling her that she liked
   her. In 1980, when Smith had just finished second grade, her family
   moved to Manchester, where she attended Manchester Elementary School.
   Her father taught literature and writing at the University of Maine at
   Augusta, and her mother worked as a social worker with the Maine
   Department of Human Services Augusta. Later her mother described how
   events began. After Yuri Andropov became the Soviet leader, the leading
   American newspapers and magazines had his portrait on their covers and
   lead articles dedicated to him with rather negative views on his
   assumption of power and expectations of new threats to the world.
   During this period, massive anti-nuclear protests were taking place in
   Europe and North America, and there was expectation for the ABC nuclear
   war television film The Day After which was scheduled to be aired for
   November sweeps. Ronald Reagan had also scrapped the concept of
   détente, and had moved to deploy cruise missiles and the Pershing II
   missile in Europe. The Soviet Union had been involved in a war in
   Afghanistan for three years at this time, which also contributed to the
   international tension. It was a TIME magazine article (most likely its
   November 22, 1982 issue) that met Smith's eyes. "If people are so
   afraid of him", she asked her mother, "why doesn't someone write a
   letter asking whether he wants to have a war or not?" "Why don't you?"
   her mother replied.

The letters

   In November 1982, when Smith was in fifth grade, she wrote to Soviet
   leader Yuri Andropov, trying to understand why the relations between
   the Soviet Union and the USA were so tense:

          "Dear Mr. Andropov,

          My name is Samantha Smith. I am ten years old. Congratulations
          on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the
          United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote
          to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are
          going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have
          to answer, but I would like to know why you want to conquer the
          world or at least our country. God made the world for us to live
          together in peace and not to fight.

          Sincerely,
          "Samantha Smith"

   Her letter was published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda and on April
   25, she received a response from Andropov:

          Dear Samantha,

          I received your letter, which is like many others that have
          reached me recently from your country and from other countries
          around the world.

          It seems to me – I can tell by your letter – that you are a
          courageous and honest girl, resembling Becky, the friend of Tom
          Sawyer in the famous book of your compatriot Mark Twain. This
          book is well known and loved in our country by all boys and
          girls.

          You write that you are anxious about whether there will be a
          nuclear war between our two countries. And you ask are we doing
          anything so that war will not break out.

          Your question is the most important of those that every thinking
          man can pose. I will reply to you seriously and honestly.

          Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do
          everything so that there will not be war on Earth. This is what
          every Soviet man wants. This is what the great founder of our
          state, Vladimir Lenin, taught us.

          Soviet people well know what a terrible thing war is. Forty-two
          years ago, Nazi Germany, which strove for supremacy over the
          whole world, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many
          thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet
          men, women and children.

          In that war, which ended with our victory, we were in alliance
          with the United States: together we fought for the liberation of
          many people from the Nazi invaders. I hope that you know about
          this from your history lessons in school. And today we want very
          much to live in peace, to trade and cooperate with all our
          neighbors on this earth—with those far away and those near by.
          And certainly with such a great country as the United States of
          America.

          In America and in our country there are nuclear weapons —
          terrible weapons that can kill millions of people in an instant.
          But we do not want them to be ever used. That's precisely why
          the Soviet Union solemnly declared throughout the entire world
          that never – never – will it use nuclear weapons first against
          any country. In general we propose to discontinue further
          production of them and to proceed to the abolition of all the
          stockpiles on earth.

          It seems to me that this is a sufficient answer to your second
          question: 'Why do you want to wage war against the whole world
          or at least the United States?' We want nothing of the kind. No
          one in our country – neither workers, peasants, writers nor
          doctors, neither grown-ups nor children, nor members of the
          government – want either a big or 'little' war.

          We want peace — there is something that we are occupied with:
          growing wheat, building and inventing, writing books and flying
          into space. We want peace for ourselves and for all peoples of
          the planet. For our children and for you, Samantha.

          I invite you, if your parents will let you, to come to our
          country, the best time being this summer. You will find out
          about our country, meet with your contemporaries, visit an
          international children's camp – 'Artek' – on the sea. And see
          for yourself: in the Soviet Union, everyone is for peace and
          friendship among peoples.

          Thank you for your letter. I wish you all the best in your young
          life.

          "Y. Andropov"

Worldwide success

   A media circus ensued, with Smith being interviewed by Ted Koppel and
   Johnny Carson, among others, and with nightly reports by the major
   American networks. On July 7, 1983, Smith flew to Moscow with her
   parents, spending two weeks as Andropov's guest. During this trip she
   visited Moscow and Leningrad, and spent some time in Artek, the main
   Soviet pioneer camp in the town of Gurzuf on the Crimea peninsula.
   Although Andropov, who was already seriously ill, did not meet her,
   they spoke by telephone. Smith wrote in her book that in Leningrad she
   and her parents were amazed by the friendliness of the people and by
   the presents many people made them. Speaking at a Moscow press
   conference, Smith declared that the Russians were "just like us".

   In Artek she chose to stay with the Soviet children rather than take
   separate accommodation offered to her. For ease of communication,
   teachers and children with fluent English were chosen to live in the
   building where she was lodged. Staying in a dormitory with nine other
   girls, Smith spent her time swimming, talking, and learning Russian
   songs and dances. She made many friends there, including Natasha
   Kashirina from Leningrad, who spoke English fluently.

   Media followed her every step — photographs and articles about her were
   published by the main Soviet newspapers and magazines throughout her
   trip and after it. Smith became widely known to Soviet citizens and was
   well regarded by many of them.

   When Smith returned to the U.S. on July 22, 1983, her arrival was
   celebrated by the people of Maine and her popularity continued to grow
   in her native country. She became a political and peace activist,
   hosting a children's special in 1984 for Disney about politics, where
   Smith interviewed several candidates for the 1984 presidential
   election, including George McGovern and Jesse Jackson. She went to
   Japan with her mother, where she met with Yasuhiro Nakasone, the Prime
   Minister of Japan, and attended the Children's International Symposium
   in Kobe. In her speech at this symposium she suggested that Soviet and
   American leaders exchange granddaughters for two weeks every year,
   arguing that a president "wouldn't want to send a bomb to a country his
   granddaughter would be visiting". Later, Smith wrote a book called
   Journey to the Soviet Union and took on an acting role, co-starring
   with Robert Wagner in a television series called Lime Street. Though
   many people in the U.S. expressed positive sentiments towards her, a
   certain part of its population, including many 1930s-1950s emigrants
   from the Soviet Union as well as other American citizens, looked
   unfavorably on her trip, arguing that she was only being used as
   propaganda. Samantha's activities promoting peace and friendship with
   the Soviets were harshly criticized by American conservatives and
   anti-communists, and she was considered an annoyance by many
   Republicans and the Reagan administration.

Death and funeral

   On a return flight from filming a segment for Lime Street in the summer
   of 1985, Smith's plane missed the runway of the Lewiston-Auburn
   Regional Airport in Auburn, Maine airport by 200 yards and crashed,
   killing all aboard (six passengers and two crew), including Smith and
   her father. Much speculation regarding the cause of the accident
   circulated afterwards. An investigation was undertaken in the USA and
   the official report, which did not support any conspiracy theories, was
   made public. As stated in the report, the accident occurred at about
   22:05 EDT, the ground impact point located one mile south-west of the
   airport, at 44°02′22″N, 70°17′30″W. The report goes on to say, "The
   relatively steep flight path angle and the attitude (the orientation of
   the aircraft relative to the horizon, direction of motion etc.) and
   speed of the airplane at ground impact precluded the occupants from
   surviving the accident." The main point of the report was that it was a
   dark and rainy night, the pilots were inexperienced, and an accidental,
   but not uncommon and not usually critical, ground radar failure
   occurred. The plane used for the fatal flight was a Bar Harbour
   Airlines Beechcraft 99.

   Samantha Smith was mourned by about 1,000 people at her funeral in
   Augusta, Maine, including Vladimir Kulagin of the Soviet Embassy in
   Washington, who read a personal message of condolence from Mikhail
   Gorbachev. However, no representative of the American government was
   present. She and her father were buried near Houlton, where she was
   born.

Tributes

   Portrait of Samantha Smith by Robert Shetterly
   Enlarge
   Portrait of Samantha Smith by Robert Shetterly

USSR

   The Soviet Union issued a commemorative stamp with her likeness. A
   diamond, a cultivar of tulips and of dahlias, an ocean vessel, and a
   mountain were named in Smith's honour, and a monument to her was built
   in Moscow. "Samantha Smith Alley" in Artek was named after her in 1986.

   When Soviet astronomer L. I. Chernykh discovered asteroid 3147, she
   named it 3147 Samantha.

USA

   Samantha Smith's mother founded the Samantha Smith Foundation in
   October 1985, which fostered student exchanges between the United
   States and the Soviet Union until it became dormant in 1995. The first
   Monday in June of each year is designated as Samantha Smith Day by the
   law of Maine and there is a statue of Samantha Smith near the Maine
   State Museum in Augusta, which portrays Smith releasing a dove, while a
   bear cub is resting at her feet. The bear cub represents both Maine and
   Russia. A Washington State elementary school was also named after
   Smith. At the University of Maine, an apartment-style dorm is named
   after her.

Russian Federation

   After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the extensive coverage
   by the Russian media of all events related to Samantha Smith stopped.
   The monument built to her in Moscow was stolen by metal thieves in
   2003. However, some interviews with her mother Jane Smith were
   published in Russian newspapers in the early 2000s and many people in
   Russia still remember her fondly. In 2003 Valentin Vaulin, a retiree
   from Voronezh, built a monument to her without any support from the
   government.

Denmark

   In 1985 the Danish composer Per Nørgård wrote the viola concerto
   Remembering Child in memory of Smith.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Smith"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
