Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov

Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich (1914–84), Soviet political leader, who became general secretary of the Communist party in 1982 after the death of Leonid Brezhnev and also, in 1983, chief of state. Earlier he had served as ambassador to Hungary (1954–57) and as head of the KGB, the Soviet security service (1967–82). In 1973 he became a full member of the Politburo, the governing body of the Communist party. As party leader, Andropov fought bureaucratic corruption, adopted a conciliatory attitude toward China, and tried to create a division between Western Europe and the United States on trade and military issues. After August 18, 1983, he was not seen in public.