Word: budapesters
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Retired Austrian Diplomat Walther Peinsipp became friendly with Andropov when both were serving as ambassadors in Budapest in 1956. The first time they met, the two immediately became embroiled in an ideological debate. At one point, Andropov turned to Peinsipp and said: "Look, I am a Communist. You represent the opposite world view, but that does not prevent us from understanding each other on a human level. Every person must have convictions, and people without convictions don't count. It would be beautifully simple if all the people in the world had the same convictions, but believe...
During his time in the Budapest embassy, Andropov displayed a zest for the better things in life, many of them Western. French wine is said to have flowed freely, and salads were served punctiliously after the main course, Continental-style. Other comrades may have patriotically downed vodka, but Andropov apparently preferred to sip Johnnie Walker Scotch. Sándor Kopácsi, a former Budapest chief of police who now lives in Toronto, was frequently on the Soviet Ambassador's guest list and recalls how Andropov used to borrow the police force's gypsy band. With a clear...
Andropov was, to Western experts, by far the most controversial of the contenders. Stern and serious behind his thick spectacles, he was the Ambassador to Budapest during the Soviet army's efficient repression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956. As head of the Committee for State Security (KGB) from 1967 to May 1982, he had also overseen the suppression of internal dissent. But at the same time, Andropov developed a reputation for pragmatism and sophistication, at least by Soviet standards...
...born in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a college professor of music, and he was raised on an American college campus after a brief stint in Toronto. He is one of the country's foremost scholars in Greek and Latin and is currently leading a new movement in the study of the classics. In 1980, Boston magazine named him one of the 10 sexiest professors in the Boston area...
...northern Caucasus, Andropov was a telegraph operator and Volga boatman before he joined the Young Communist League. He served as political commissar on the Finnish front during World War II and eventually joined the Foreign Ministry in Moscow, rising rapidly to the rank of ambassador. While Ambassador to Budapest in 1956, he helped supervise the brutal Soviet repression of the Hungarian uprising. Though not previously a professional secret policeman, Andropov was named top cop of the Soviet Union in 1967. He quickly became known for the efficiency with which he repressed all forms of political, religious and national dissent...