43: Samantha Smith

 

43 years ago today (July 7, 1983) 11 year old American Samantha Smith visited the Soviet Union.

Samantha Reed Smith was born on June 29, 1972. She was an American Peace Activist and Child Actress from Manchester, Maine, who became famous for her Anti-War outreaches during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1982, Smith wrote a letter to the newly appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov, and received a personal reply with an invitation to visit the Soviet Union, which she accepted.

Smith attracted extensive media attention in both countries as a "Goodwill Ambassador", becoming known as America's Youngest Ambassador and subsequently participating in peacemaking activities in Japan.

With the assistance of her Father, Arthur, she wrote a book titled “Journey to the Soviet Union”, which chronicled her visit to the country. She later became a Child Actress, hosting a Child-oriented special on the 1984 United States Presidential Election for The Disney Channel and playing a co-starring role in the Television Series “Lime Street.”

Smith died at the age of 13 on August 25, 1985, onboard Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808, which crashed short of the runway on final approach to the Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport in Maine.

Her Father also died in the crash.