  We review some exact results on Kondo impurity systems derived from
Bethe-ansatz solutions and boundary conformal field theory with particular
emphasis on universal aspects of the phenomenon. The finite-size spectra
characterizing the low-energy fixed point are computed from the Bethe-ansatz
solutions of various models related to the Kondo problem. Using the finite-size
scaling argument, we investigate their exact critical properties. We also
discuss that a universal relation between the Kondo effect and the impurity
effect in one-dimensional quantum systems usefully expedites our understanding
of these different phenomena.
