Joseph Smith, Jr. (Sharon, Vermont, December 23, 1805 Carthage, Illinois, June 27, 1844) was the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Controversial figure, raises still very conflicting opinions among his supporters and detractors. It is considered by the Churches of Mormon movement as a prophet chosen by God to restore the early Church of Jesus Christ. In 1827 he declared, in what Mormons call the First Vision, an angel had shown him an old record, written on gold plates, which described the visit of Jesus to the ancestors of the Indians of the Americas, and He had been given the task of organizing the Christian church again. In 1830, Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon, which he claimed was an English translation of that registration; that same year he founded the religious congregation originally called Church of Christ.
