Samantha Smith

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 some other countries after her visit to the Soviet Union, wrote a book and co-starred in a television series before her death in an airplane crash.

External links

• SamanthaSmith.info - website dedicated to Samantha Smith. There are pictures, articles and tributes page.
• A Nightline Moment From 1983 - ABC News (Dec. 2004)
• {{imdb name|name=Samantha Smith|id=0809858}}
• Samantha Smith Elementary School was named after her; there are colored photos of Smith and biography
• Text of Maine statute declaring Samantha Smith Day
• Samantha Smith's statue in Augusta
• Article about Samantha Smith's visit of Artek (in Russian), which contains photos taken of her there.
• Samantha Smith Foundation
• Aircraft Accident Report, a description with a link to the official report
• A monument to her in Voronezh (in Russian) - from the Voronezh online newspaper