Andropov, Yuri (1914-1984)

Soviet communist politician, president of the USSR 1983-84. As chief of the KGB 1967-82, he established a reputation for efficiently suppressing dissent.

Andropov was politically active from the 1930s. His part in quelling the Hungarian national uprising of 1956, when he was Soviet ambassador, brought him into the Communist Party secretariat 1962 as a specialist on East European affairs. He became a member of the Politburo in 1973 and succeeded Brezhnev as party general secretary in 1982. Elected president in 1983, he instituted economic reforms.