born Sept. 11, 1911, Bolshaya Tes, Yeniseysk, Russian Empire
died March 10, 1985, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.
Soviet leader.
He joined the Communist Party in 1931 and rose through the ranks to become Leonid Brezhnev 's chief of staff (1964). He was a full member of the Central Committee from 1971 and of the Politburo from 1977. An old-line conservative, he was considered by some to be Brezhnev's heir apparent, but he failed in a bid to succeed Brezhnev as party leader in 1982. When Yuri Andropov died, Chernenko succeeded him in 1984. His physical frailty soon became apparent, suggesting that his election had been intended as an interim measure; he died the next year.