What did she do?

In 1983, aged just 10, Samantha Smith wrote a brave letter to Russia’s General Secretary Yuri Andropov, where she gracefully but daringly discussed her concerns about the possible Cold War between America and Russia. Little did she know that she would soon become known as ‘America’s Youngest Goodwill Ambassador’.

Samantha Smith was a young girl who grew up in the US state of Maine. Born on 29 June, 1972, she took an interest in the world around her from a very young age. At just five years old she wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth ll, where she discussed her phenomenal admiration for the monarch. The letter was never answered, but she never lost her engagement with the outside world.

In 1983, with talk of a possible war between Russia and America, a concerned Samantha knew she had to do all she could to stop it from taking place. So she wrote a letter to Russian General Secretary Yuri Andropov:

“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.”

The 10-year-old girl who rallied for world peace in the face of nuclear war