CHERNENKO, KONSTANTIN USTINOVICH

(1911–1985)

   Politician.

   Born to a miner and a farmer in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Chernenko joined the Komsomol youth organization in the mid-1920s. After gaining membership in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), he took a number of positions in the area of propaganda, first on the Sino-Soviet border and then in Moldova. He soon became a protégé of Leonid Brezhnev, ultimately serving as his chief of staff after 1960.

   Despite the recommendation of Yury Andropov that Mikhail Gorbachev succeed him as Soviet premier, Chernenko maneuvered himself into the top position upon Andropov’s death in 1984.However, Chernenko was already quite ill by this point, and called upon Gorbachev to represent him at many Politburo meetings. During his 13-month reign as general secretary of the CPSU, Chernenko accomplished little, though he effectively negated Andropov’s attempts at economic acceleration (uskoreniie>). On the international front, he made the decision to boycott the 1984 Olympiad in Los Angeles, in what most viewed as retaliation for the United States–led boycott of the 1980 Moscow games in protest of the initiation of the Soviet-Afghan War. By early 1985, Chernenko suffered from a variety of illnesses, including hepatitis. He died of heart failure on 10 March 1985; Gorbachev replaced him as premier within a day.

   See also Foreign relations; Sport.