Sept 6 (Reuters) - Zimbabwes Robert Mugabe was feted as an African liberation hero and champion of racial reconciliation when he first came to power in a nation divided by nearly a century of white colonial rule.

Nearly four decades later, many at home and abroad denounced him as a power-obsessed autocrat willing to unleash death squads, rig elections and trash the economy in the relentless pursuit of control.

Mugabe, was ultimately ousted by his own armed forces in November 2017.

He demonstrated his tenacity - some might say stubbornness - to the last, refusing to accept his expulsion from his own ZANU-PF party and clinging on for a week until parliament started to impeach him after the de facto coup.

His resignation triggered wild celebrations across the country of 13 million. For Mugabe, it was an unconstitutional and humiliating act of betrayal by his party and people, and left him a broken man.