Mr Tsvangirai was the son of a bricklayer and began his working life working in a rural mine to support his first wife Susan and their six children.
He got his first taste of politics when he took on the role as mine foreman, moving on in 1988 to become full-time secretary general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.
In 1999, he helped found the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and quickly became Zimbabwe's best-known opposition figure.
In June the following year, Mr Tsvangirai inspired poorer voters with his rhetoric, stunning the ruling ZANU-PF party by winning 57 of the 120 seats in parliament.
He was praised for his political courage but many worried that he was headstrong and had been ill-equipped to take on the long-time dictator Mr Mugabe.
He suffered many abuses at the hands of Zimbabwe's security forces, the worst of which was a beating by police in 2007 which left him with severe head injuries.
In 2008, he got the most votes in the national election but was just short of the more than 50% needed to win outright, according to official results.
He boycotted the next round, saying his supporters were being targeted with violence.
Tsvangerai was a Zionist stooge and uncle Tom. the Zionist created him and his party..just like they did this new fella in there now..who tossed Mugabe
they are both traitors to africa and their own nation
