Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician who was the sixth leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, taking office in 1982 and serving until his death in 1984.
Andropov in 1980
Andropov, Erich Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, 1967
Andropov in 1974 as KGB Chairman
General Wojciech Jaruzelski meeting Andropov during the 1982 crisis
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the country's dissolution in 1991, the officeholder was the recognized leader of the Soviet Union. Prior to Stalin's accession, the position was not viewed as an important role in Lenin's government and previous occupants had been responsible for technical rather than political decisions.
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Image: Old Russia Yakov Sverdlov 1918 1
Image: Elena Stasova
Image: Nikolai Krestinsky