South Windsor teen wrote letters to 187 heads of state. Nineteen wrote back

Last summer, Max Schwartzman, editor-in-chief of South Windsor High School’s The Bobcat Prowl, wanted to find something exciting to write about for the student newspaper. So he decided to become pen pals with every head of state in the world.

“I want to study international relations and become a diplomat. I want to represent the United States in other countries. I figured getting ideas from them about how to do that would be the best way to learn,” Schwartzman said.

After creating a spreadsheet with all the names, titles and addresses, he sent 187 letters around the globe to presidents, prime ministers, kings, princes, emirs, sultans, captains regent, chancellors and even the pope.

The question he asked in each letter was “What would you want the young people of America to know most about your nation or you?”

“There are a few countries I didn’t send to. I couldn’t find Putin’s address. I didn’t write to Kim Jong-un. I chose not to send to any countries that would put me on a no-fly list,” Schwartzman, 17, said.

Twelve letters were returned to sender. “It’s hard to get letters to some parts of the world. Some countries don’t have a postal service. Some countries are unstable and unsafe,” he said.

But the rest got through, as far as he knows, and Schwartzman got 19 responses. He’s hoping for more, but cherishes every one of those responses.

Even responses that are dismissive or perfunctory make Schwartzman laugh. Some just sent links to governmental websites. Some wrote to say they didn’t have time to write or that they would write back later. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre declined to make a “contribution.”

But the non-answers and nothingburger answers make the thoughtful responses so much more precious, he said. His favorite is from Iceland’s President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson. It is the only response that is handwritten. Jóhannesson wrote it himself, not an assistant. And Jóhannesson researched South Windsor’s history before responding.

“In 1845, when [South Windsor] became a separate town, the ancient parliament of Iceland, the Althing, was restored. That was an important milestone on Iceland’s journey to full independence, after centuries of foreign rule,” Jóhannesson wrote to Schwartzman.

“To be fair, it wouldn’t be right to demand that anyone respond to me. That’s what makes Iceland’s response so unique,” Schwartzman said. “I do also appreciate the ones where the leaders actually signed their names.”

Schwartzman also liked the response from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: “Our history is peppered with the achievements of incredible women. We were the first country to give women the right to vote (in 1893), we had the first registered nurse (Ellen Dougherty in 1887) and the first woman to represent her country in the League of Nations (Phoebe Myers in 1929).”

“It was nice that she wrote about feminism, a social thing, and not just the place where she’s from,” he said.

Prince Albert of Monaco concluded his response with “I will be happy to welcome you and show you the Palace if you ever get a chance to visit Monaco and the French Riviera.” Schwartzman was delighted with that comment.

“He actually invited me to his house,” he said.

He also enjoyed the response from President Paula-Mae Weekes, who described Trinidad and Tobago as “a small nation with a very diverse population including a small indigenous population and the descendants of European colonisers, enslaved persons, indentured workers from West Africa, India and China. Our national anthem says ‘Here every creed and race find an equal place’ and we strive always to live out this ideal.”

Schwartzman also got letters from the offices of Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Saint Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Irish President Michael D. Higgins and Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Schwartzman created an Instagram account, instagram.com/letterstothepresidents, to share some of the letters.

Schwartzman knew some heads of state wouldn’t write back. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned about two weeks after Schwartzman sent him his letter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a lot on his mind these days. But one nonresponder surprised him.

“I wrote to Joe Biden. I’ve written to the White House in the past and have gotten a response. Not this time,” he said. “Maybe he will still write back.”

He is especially happy about the leaders of small countries who responded to him. “Everybody knows about the big countries, Russia, Japan, all those countries that are in the news all the time. But when’s the last time you heard news about Trinidad and Tobago or Luxembourg?” he said.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.