Editing Konstantin Chernenko (section)

{{Short description|Leader of the Soviet Union from 1984 to 1985}}
{{Redirect|Chernenko|the surname|Chernenko (surname)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| native_name         = {{Nobold|Константин Черненко}}
| native_name_lang    = ru
| image               = Cernenko (upscale).jpg
| image_size = 
| caption             = Chernenko in 1973
| office              = [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start          = 13 February 1984
| term_end            = 10 March 1985
| premier             = [[Nikolai Tikhonov]]
| predecessor         = [[Yuri Andropov]]
| successor           = [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]
| office2             = [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]]
| deputy2             = [[Vasily Kuznetsov (politician)|Vasily Kuznetsov]]
| term_start2         = 11 April 1984
| term_end2           = 10 March 1985
| predecessor2        = Yuri Andropov<br>[[Vasily Kuznetsov (politician)|Vasily Kuznetsov]] (acting)
| successor2          = [[Andrei Gromyko]]
| office3             = [[Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start3         = 10 November 1982
| term_end3           = 9 February 1984
| predecessor3        = Yuri Andropov
| successor3          = Mikhail Gorbachev<small> (''[[de facto]]'') </small>
| term_start4         = 25 January 1982
| term_end4           = 24 May 1982 
| predecessor4        = [[Mikhail Suslov]]
| successor4          = Yuri Andropov
| birth_name          = Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1911|9|24}}
| birth_place         = [[Bolshaya Tes]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1985|3|10|1911|9|24}}
| death_place         = [[Moscow]], Soviet Union
| death_cause         = Combination of [[Emphysema|chronic emphysema]], an enlarged and damaged heart, [[congestive heart failure]] and [[Cirrhosis|liver cirrhosis]]
| resting_place       = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]], Moscow
| party               = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] (1931–1985)
| allegiance          = [[Soviet Union]]
| branch              = [[Soviet Armed Forces]]
| serviceyears        = 1930–1933
| awards              = {{collapsible list|title=See List| [[File:Hero of Socialist Labor medal.png|Hero of Socialist Labour|20px]] [[File:Hero of Socialist Labor medal.png|Hero of Socialist Labour|20px]] [[File:Hero of Socialist Labor medal.png|Hero of Socialist Labour|20px]]<br />[[File:Order of Lenin ribbon bar.png|Order of Lenin|32px]] [[File:Order of Lenin ribbon bar.png|Order of Lenin|32px]] [[File:Order of Lenin ribbon bar.png|Order of Lenin|32px]] [[File:Order of Lenin ribbon bar.png|Order of Lenin|32px]]<br />[[File:Orderredbannerlabor rib.png|Order of the Red Banner of Labour|32px]] [[File:Orderredbannerlabor rib.png|Order of the Red Banner of Labour|32px]] [[File:Orderredbannerlabor rib.png|Order of the Red Banner of Labour|32px]] [[File:RibbonLabourDuringWar.png|Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"|32px]]<br />[[File:SU Medal In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ribbon.svg|Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"|32px]] [[File:30 years of victory rib.png|Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"|32px]] [[File:60 years saf rib.png|Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"|32px]]<br />[[File:Medal Lenin Prize.png|20px]]}}
| spouse              = Faina Vassilyevna Chernenko<br />{{Marriage|[[Anna Chernenko|Anna Dmitrievna Lyubimova]]|1944}}
| children            = 4, including [[Albert Chernenko|Albert]]
| signature           = Chernenko signature.svg
| footnotes           = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;
|title         = Central institution membership
|bullets       = on
|1971–1985: Full member of the [[24th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|24th]], [[25th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]], [[26th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]]
|1978–1985: Full member of the [[25th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]], [[26th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]]
|1977–1978: Candidate member of the [[25th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]] [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]]
|1976–1985: Member of the [[25th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]], [[26th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] [[Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]]
}}
----
{{Collapsible list
|titlestyle = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;
|title         = Other political offices held
|bullets       = on
|1976–1982: Senior Secretary of Cadres of the CPSU
|1984–1985: Chairman, [[Defense Council (Soviet Union)|Defense Council]]
|1965–1982: Head of the [[General Department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Department]] of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]]
}}
{{center|'''[[Leader of the Soviet Union]]'''<br />
{{flatlist|
* {{big|'''←'''}} [[Yuri Andropov|Andropov]]
* [[Mikhail Gorbachev|Gorbachev]] {{big|'''→'''}}
}}
}}
}}

'''Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko'''{{family name footnote|Ustinovich|Chernenko|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{efn|{{IPAc-en|tʃ|ɜr|ˈ|n|ɛ|ŋ|k|oʊ|audio=En-us-Konstantin Chernenko from Russia pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg}} {{respell|chur|NENK|oh}};<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chernenko "Chernenko"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101090325/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chernenko |date=1 January 2015 }}. ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''.</ref> {{lang-rus|links=no|Константин Устинович Черненко|p=kənstɐnˈtʲin ʊˈsʲtʲinəvʲɪtɕ tɕɪrˈnʲenkə}}<br />{{langx|uk|Костянтин Устинович Черненко|translit=Kostiantyn Ustynovych Chernenko}}}} ({{OldStyleDate|24&nbsp;September|1911|11 September}} – 10 March 1985)<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hP7jJAkTd9MC&dq=Konstantin+Ustinovich+Chernenko+10+march&pg=PA121| title = Profile of Konstantin Chernenko| isbn = 9780313281129| last1 = Jessup| first1 = John E.| year = 1998| publisher = Greenwood Publishing| access-date = 25 January 2022| archive-date = 2 June 2024| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240602225120/https://books.google.com/books?id=hP7jJAkTd9MC&dq=Konstantin+Ustinovich+Chernenko+10+march&pg=PA121| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Konstantin Chernenko |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Konstantin-Chernenko |website=The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica |publisher=The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=26 May 2025}}</ref> was a Soviet politician who served as the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1984 until his death a year later.

Born to a poor family in [[Siberia]], Chernenko joined the [[Komsomol]] in 1929 and became a full member of the party in 1931. After holding a series of [[Propaganda in the Soviet Union|propaganda]] posts, in 1948 he became the head of the propaganda department in [[Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavia]], serving under [[Leonid Brezhnev]]. After Brezhnev took over as First Secretary of the CPSU in 1964, Chernenko was appointed to head the General Department of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]]. In this capacity, he became responsible for setting the agenda for the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] and drafting Central Committee decrees. By 1971 Chernenko became a full member of the Central Committee and later a full member of the Politburo in 1978.

Following the death of Brezhnev and his successor [[Yuri Andropov]], Chernenko was elected General Secretary in February 1984 and made [[list of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] of the [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] in April 1984. However, due to his rapidly failing health, he was often unable to fulfill his official duties. He died in March 1985 after leading the country for only 13 months, and was succeeded as General Secretary by [[Mikhail Gorbachev]].