Samantha Smith (actress, 1972)
Samantha Reed Smith (born June 29, 1972 in Houlton , Maine , † August 25, 1985 in Auburn , Maine) was an American student, peace activist and actress .
Life
Samantha Smith was born in 1972 in the small town of Houlton, Maine, New England . Her father Arthur Smith was a professor of literature at the University of Maine in Augusta and mother Jane Reed was a social worker. From 1980 she attended the Manchester Elementary School.
In November 1982, the then ten-year-old wrote a letter to the then newly elected CPSU General Secretary Yuri Andropov , in which she congratulated him on his new office and expressed her concern about a nuclear war between the world powers. Your letter was published in Pravda , the most important Russian daily at the time . Samantha Smith was pleased that her letter was noted, but she missed an answer and so turned to the Soviet ambassador in Washington, DC
In April 1983 she actually received a reply from Yuri Andropov, in which he gave his view of things and invited her to visit the Soviet Union . Samantha Smith's two-week trip to Moscow in July 1983 caused a sensation in the international press. Visits to what was then Leningrad , the famous Soviet pioneer camp Artek in the Crimea , as well as meetings with pupils of the same age led her to the conclusion that the Russians are "like us". Her media presence meant that she was invited to go abroad and also received offers for acting. In 1985 she stood next to Robert Wagner in three episodes of the eight-part television series Lime Street in front of the camera.
On August 25, 1985, on the return flight from filming the television series Lime Street, the Beechcraft 99 plane with Samantha Smith, her father, four other passengers and two crew members crashed on the approach near the runway of Lewiston-Auburn Regional Airport after it was still Grazed trees. All eight passengers on board were killed.
Commemoration
- After her death, the Soviet Union issued a stamp with the portrait of Samantha Smith.
- An asteroid discovered in 1986 by the Russian astronomer Lyudmila Ivanovna Tschernych was named (3147) Samantha in honor of Smith .
- The Soviet Union named a 3300 m high mountain (Pik Samantha) , as well as a rose and a diamond found in Siberia after her.
- After her death, Samantha Smith received first prize in the Children's Peace Award .
- In her home state of Maine, an elementary school was named after her
- A statue showing her releasing a pigeon with a bear cub at her feet (an allusion to Maine and Russia) stands in front of the Maine State House , the seat of the Maine State Parliament in Augusta .
Filmography
- 1984: Charles in Charge (TV series, an episode)
- 1985: Lime Street (TV series, three episodes)
literature
- Katja Petrowskaja : Samantha from space, in: FAS No. 2, January 14, 2018, p. 46.
Web links
- Samantha Smith in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official site of Samantha Smith
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Samantha’s Letter & Yuri Andropov's Response to Samantha's Letter. In: samanthasmith.info. Retrieved March 18, 2016 .
- ↑ LIME STREET (1985). In: samanthasmith.info. Retrieved March 18, 2016 .
- ↑ crash. In: samanthasmith.info. Retrieved March 18, 2016 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, Samantha |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Samantha Reed (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American schoolgirl, peace activist, and actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 29, 1972 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Houlton , Maine, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 25, 1985 |
| Place of death | Auburn , Maine, United States |