Historian Moshe Lewin characterizes Andropov during his brief tenure as Soviet leader as "a politician interested in intellectual issues, but who was also a realist" and states that "Andropov …

Yury Andropov, head of the Soviet Union’s KGB from 1967 to 1982, when he became the country’s leader, a position he held until his death in 1984.

Andropov himself always was vague about his life, starting from his family roots. Rumors had circulated that his grandfather was a rich merchant of Jewish origin – but Andropov always …

Andropov's tactical sophistication was apparent in ensuring that repression was balanced by concessions, and he prevented the full restoration of the Stalinist system by placing the …

Andropov was one of those responsible for the Soviet decision to invade Hungary during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Andropov returned to Moscow to head the Department for Liaison with …

Upon the death of Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, Andropov was named Secretary General of the CPSU, and a year later, President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his deat...