Smith traveled several times to Denmark and had talked about living there later in life.

She considered taking time off last year to travel and study in Europe.

Raised to speak Danish, English and Somali, Smith also learned French, German and Luxembourgish. At Harvard, she was studying Italian.

Friends laughingly remembered how Smith spoke English with a European twist, comically mixing words like “trousers” with American slang.

A Life Lived Passionately

Beyond her penchant for languages, friends said Smith was passionate about film, anthropology and music.

She enjoyed foreign films, especially Asian ones, and took film classes both last year and this year at Harvard.

Last summer, Smith worked for a production company in Los Angeles.

“She loved things intensely—she would listen to one song for 48 hours straight,” a friend said, citing hits by Fiona Apple, Sade and Stevie Wonder as examples.

Barkett said she was impressed by how Smith went about making plans and pursuing funding for a trip to Africa last summer—even though she did not end up going.

“Everyone marveled at her ability to go after something when she wanted it,” Barkett said. “It seemed like nothing could stop her.”

Smith’s interest in anthropology followed in the footsteps of her father, Lars Christian Smith ’70, who also concentrated in anthropology at Harvard.

But her friends said her choice of academic pursuit was also motivated by “a desire to know humanity.”

At Harvard, Smith worked at the

Graduate School of Design library and dabbled in other campus activities including the Bee, a female final club, and the Women in Business club.

In addition to her father, Smith is survived by her mother, Asha Hagi Dirie Hersi, her brother David, 16, and her sister Sophia, 12.

A Harvard memorial service will be held on Wednesday.

—Staff writer Jenifer L. Steinhardt can be reached at steinhar@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Elisabeth S. Theodore can be reached at theodore@fas.harvard.edu.