User blog comment:Reddude/Zac's Fan Club/@comment-1874924-20141230231418/@comment-1874924-20141231023748

For those of you who didn't know, the Secretary General was (despite the modest-sounding title) the de facto head of the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union. "Emeritus" denotes someone who has retired but is allowed to retain his former title as an honorary.