Yuri Andropov

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov 15 June OS 2 June 1914 9 February 1984 was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984 He previously served as the Chairman of the KGB from 1967 until 1982 Earlier in his career Andropov served as the Soviet ambassador to Hungary from 1954 to 1957 During this period he took part in the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising Later under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev he was appointed chairman of the KGB on 10 May 1967 As Brezhnevs health deteriorated from the mid1970s onward Andropov began to increasingly dictate Soviet policy alongside Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov Upon Brezhnevs death on 10 November 1982 Andropov succeeded him as General Secretary and by extension as the leader of the Soviet Union Subsequently he sought to implement reforms to eliminate corruption and economic inefficiency in the country by criminalizing truancy in the workplace and investigating longtime officials for violations of party discipline Under Andropovs leadership the Cold War intensified while the regime struggled to handle the growing crisis in the Soviet economy His major longterm impact was bringing to the fore a new generation of young reformers as energetic as himself including Yegor Ligachyov Nikolai Ryzhkov and most importantly Mikhail Gorbachev Upon suffering kidney failure in February 1983 Andropovs health began to deteriorate rapidly He died aged 69 on 9 February 1984 having led the country for about 15 months