Suzanne Massie (née Rohrbach; born January 8, 1931) is an American scholar of Russian history who played an important role in the relations between Ronald Reagan and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

in the final years of the Cold War. In mid-May 2021, she asked Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

to grant her Russian citizenship. In an

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

broadcast, she previously said that the American media hate Russia.

Biography

Massie is the daughter of a Swiss diplomat. She was born in New York and graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

, but also studied at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

and the Institute of Political Studies in Paris. In 1975, Suzanne Massie and her then-husband

Robert K. Massie Robert Kinloch Massie III (January 5, 1929 – December 2, 2019) was an American journalist and historian. He devoted much of his career to studying and writing about the House of Romanov, Russia's imperial family from 1613 to 1917. Massie was ...

chronicled their experiences as the parents of a

hemophiliac Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

child, Robert Kinloch Massie IV, and the significant differences between the American and French health-care systems in their jointly written book, ''Journey.'' ''Journey'' followed her husband's 1967 book, ''

Nicholas and Alexandra ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' is a 1971 British epic historical drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, from a screenplay written by James Goldman and Edward Bond, based on Robert K. Massie's 1967 book of the same name, which is a partia ...

,'' a biography of the last Emperor and Empress of Russia, whose son also was born with haemophilia. Reagan first became interested in Massie when he read her book ''Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia''. She eventually visited the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, where she became an informal messenger between the President and Mikhail Gorbachev and his administration. She also asked Reagan to learn the now famous Russian phrase ''" Doveryai, no proveryai"'', which translates as "Trust, but verify". Her importance in contributing to Reagan's understanding of the Russian people, assisting in reaching a peaceful end to the Cold War, was described in detail in a number of documentary films. She applied for the job of US Ambassador to Russia via a letter to Reagan but was rejected, as the post had already been filled. A fellow of the Harvard Russian Research Center (now the Davis Center) from 1985 to 1997, Massie has also served on the board of the

International League for Human Rights The International League for Human Rights (ILHR) is a human rights organization with headquarters in New York City. Claiming to be the oldest human rights organization in the United States, the ILHR defines its mission as "defending human right ...

. In 1991 she was appointed as the only lay member of the Permanent Episcopal-Orthodox Coordinating Committee, which has involved bi-annual discussions in Russia and the United States with hierarchs of the church, including Patriarch

Aleksy II Patriarch Alexy II (or Alexius II, russian: link=no, Патриарх Алексий II; secular name Aleksei Mikhailovich Ridiger russian: link=no, Алексе́й Миха́йлович Ри́дигер; 23 February 1929 – 5 December ...

. In 2021 Suzanne Massie travelled to Moscow to attend

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

celebration, and in an interview with Russian broadcaster NTV, she asked Putin for a Russian passport: "If President Vladimir Vladimirovich

utin Utin may refer to: * Utin (castle), a former Wendish castle in north Germany * Saint-Utin, a commune in north-eastern France * Ikouwem Udo Ikouwem Udo Utin (born 11 November 1999) is a Nigerian international footballer who plays for Croatian c ...

finds it possible to grant me Russian citizenship, it will be an honor for me". She was granted Russian citizenship on December 30, 2021.

Personal life

She was married to Robert Massie from 1954 to 1990, when they divorced; they had three children. She subsequently married

Seymour Papert Seymour Aubrey Papert (; 29 February 1928 – 31 July 2016) was a South African-born American mathematician, computer scientist, and educator, who spent most of his career teaching and researching at MIT. He was one of the pioneers of artificia ...

.Emily Langer
"Seymour Papert, MIT scholar who connected children with computers, dies at 88"
''The Washington Post'', August 7, 2016.

Books

*Massie, Suzanne, ''Trust but Verify: Reagan, Russia and Me,'' Maine Authors Publishing, 2013: Paperback and Hardcover. *Massie, Suzanne, ''Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia,'' Simon & Schuster 1980: Paperback; Touchstone 1982. *Massie, Suzanne, ''Pavlovsk: The Life of a Russian Palace,'' Little Brown & Co. 1990: Paperback; HeartTree Press 1999. *Massie, Suzanne, ''The Living Mirror,'' Doubleday & Co. Garden City New York 1972: Paperback: Anchor 1972. *Massie, Suzanne & Robert Massie, ''Journey,'' Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1975: Paperback: Warner's 1976; Ballantine Books 1984.

References

External links

*
Suzanne Liselotte Massie (Rohrbach)
Geni.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Massie, Suzanne 1931 births Living people American memoirists American women writers American people of Swiss descent Harvard Fellows Historians of Russia People of the Cold War Ronald Reagan Soviet Union–United States relations Vassar College alumni Writers from New York City 20th-century American Episcopalians Naturalised citizens of Russia