By the time he left office in 2001, this diminutive "new style" African leader -- he is just 1.5 metres (less than five feet) tall -- was detested by many, accused of corruption and a dictatorial style.
The 1991 campaign saw the former union leader win the presidency from Kenneth Kaunda, who had been in power for 27 years and had instituted a state-dominated economy and single-party rule.
Once in office, Chiluba, now 61, oversaw the sale of more than 250 state companies to private firms -- some to his cronies -- but many ended up closing down due to lack of proper management, throwing hundreds out of work.
Chiluba turned himself into a strong-man just months into office, sacking colleagues who dared to challenge his policies or political moves.
"I am a political engineer," he would declare after ousting opponents.
In 1996 when Kaunda regained political momentum, Chiluba changed the constitution to bar anyone with foreign parentage from becoming president. That effectively barred Kaunda because his parents hailed from neighbouring Malawi.
In 1997 Chiluba survived a military coup by junior army officers who believed he had become too corrupt.
He then had Kaunda and other opposition leaders arrested on charges that they had financed the dissident soldiers.
In 2001, he tried to change the constitution to enable him to run for a third consecutive term, but met vigorous resistance, with thousands protesting in he streets.
He then hurriedly hand-picked his successor, Levy Mwanawasa, who last year had parliament strip him of his immunity so he could be prosecuted.
Chiluba's parentage and educational background are both in dispute.
He is officially Bemba by tribe, born to Zambian parents near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, but many Zambians believe he is Congolese.
In 1996 the Supreme Court threw out a challenge to his nationality, while admitting that Chiluba's background could not be "reconciled".
Chiluba claimed to have obtained "O" levels when he was a teenager but those who knew him from childhood disputed that, saying he was an elementary school drop-out.
However, when he was president, he spent time studying by correspondence and obtained a masters degree in political science from University of Warwick.
Chiluba worked as a bus conductor and sisal cutter in neighbouring Tanzania before becoming credit manager in a private firm in Zambia.
He headed the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions for 17 years.
Chiluba was married to Vera Tembo, with whom he had nine children, for 33 years. He divorced her a year ago to marry a former Movement for Multiparty Democracy women's leader, Regina Mwanza - Sapa-AFP
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