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.

Tributes

USSR

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

Related Topics:
Commemorative stamp - Cultivar - Tulip - Dahlia - Vessel - Moscow

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

Related Topics:
L. I. Chernykh - Asteroid - 3147 Samantha

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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.

Related Topics:
1985 - 1995 - Maine State Museum

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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.

Related Topics:
Collapse of the Soviet Union - 1991 - Thieves - 2003 - 2000 - Russia - Voronezh

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