According to the Question Gurus in Stockport Quiz League, in 2011, "It [was] generally accepted that the Soviet Head of State was the General Secretary of the Communist Party."
I beg to differ. In my book, the Party Secretary was the head of government in the Soviet Union, but the Chairman of the Praesidium was the head of state – because it was with the Praesidium of the Supreme Soviet that the ultimate power lay. I am guided in this matter by Wikipedia: "Prior to the creation of the post of president, the de jure head of state of the Soviet Union was the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, who was often called the 'president' by non–Soviet sources."
The Party Secretary during Gromyko's time as Chairman of the Presidium was Mikhail Gorbachev, who succeeded Konstantin Chernenko in this post following the latter's death in March 1985. Gorbachev succeeded Gromyko as Chairman of the Presidium in October 1988, becoming Chairman of the Supreme Soviet in May 1989 and President in March 1990. He resigned on Christmas Day 1991; the Soviet Union was formally dissolved next day, and Boris Yeltsin became President of Russia.
© Haydn Thompson 2021