Biography
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 20, 1964), known professionally as Michelle Obama, is an American politician, author, lawyer, and businesswoman. She served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
She is the first African-American woman to hold this position in the United States. She is the wife of former President Barack Obama.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, Michelle Obama campaigned for her husband’s presidential campaign by delivering the keynote speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
During her tenure as First Lady, Michelle Obama served as a role model for women and promoted awareness of poverty, education, nutrition, exercise, and healthy eating. She was a fashion icon and an advocate for American designers.
Former First Lady of the United States
Michelle Obama |
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 Michelle Obama: History ‧ Biography ‧ Photos |
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| Wiki Events & About Data | |
| Full name: | Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama |
| Stage name: | Michelle Obama |
| Born: | January 17, 1964 (age 60) |
| Place of birth: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Education: | Harvard Law School (1988), Princeton University (1981–1985), Whitney Young Magnet High School (1977–1981) |
| Nationality: | American |
| Height: | 1.8 minutes |
| Parents: | Fraser C. Robinson III, Marian Shields Robinson |
| Siblings: | Craig Robinson |
| Husband • Spouse: | Barack Obama (married 1992) |
| Boyfriend • Partner: | David Upchurch (1982) |
| The children: | Malia Ann Obama and Sasha Obama |
| Job: | Lawyer • Author |
| Net worth: | 70 million US dollars |
Early life
Michelle Obama was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on January 17, 1964. Her grandparents are Purnell Nathaniel Shields, Fraser Robinson, Jr., LaVaughn Dolores Johnson, and Rebecca Jumper. She has an older brother named Craig Robinson.
Fraser C. Robinson III, her father, was a city waterworks worker and Democratic precinct captain, born in 1935. Marian Shields Robinson, her mother, was born on July 30, 1937, and worked as a secretary at Spiegel’s catalog company. Michelle Obama’s mother was a stay-at-home mom until she started high school.
Robinson’s family is of pre-Civil War African American descent in the American South. She is descended from the Gullah people of the Lowcountry of South Carolina on her father’s side.
Her paternal great-grandfather, Jim Robinson, was born into slavery on the Friendfield Plantation near Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1850. After the war, he became a free man at the age of 15. Several members of Michelle Obama’s paternal family still live in Georgetown.
Her grandfather, Fraser Robinson, Jr., built his own home in South Carolina. After retiring to Chicago, he and his wife, LaVaughn Dolores Johnson, moved to the Lowcountry.
Her great-grandmother, Melvinia Dosey Shields, was also born into slavery in South Carolina but was sold to Henry Walls Shields, who owned a 200-acre farm near Atlanta in Clayton County, Georgia.
Adolphus Theodore Shields, Melvinia Dosey Shields’ first son, was mixed-race and born into slavery around 1860. In 2012, experts concluded that his father was 20-year-old Charles Marion Shields, Melvinia Dosey Shields’s owner, based on DNA and other evidence.
They may have had a long-term relationship as she gave birth to two more mixed-race children after independence and lived near Shields, taking his surname.
Education
Michelle Obama was encouraged by her brother to attend Princeton University, which she did in 1981. She majored in sociology and graduated with a degree in African-American studies, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985 after writing a 99-page senior thesis under Walter Wallace titled Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community.
She said some high school teachers tried to dissuade her from applying and told her not to set her sights too high.
Michelle Obama believed that the alumni status of her brother, who graduated in 1983 and went on to coach basketball at Oregon State University and Brown University, would help her get in. But she was determined to prove her worth.
She admitted that she felt overwhelmed during her freshman year, though she blamed it on the fact that neither of her parents had graduated from college and that she had never visited a college campus.
Personal life
Michelle Obama met Barack Obama at their law firm, Sidley Austin LLP, where she was one of the few African-Americans working at the firm. While he was a summer associate, she was expected to mentor him. Their relationship began with a business lunch and then a community group meeting, where he first made an impression on her.
Michelle Obama told her mother that she planned to focus on finishing her work before meeting Barack Obama in person. On their first date in 1989, the couple went to see Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Barack Obama has commented that the couple’s initial attraction to each other was based on opposites, as Michelle Obama had the stability of a two-parent home while he was adventurous.
On October 3, 1992, they finally married. Michelle Obama used in vitro fertilization to conceive her two daughters, Malia Ann Obama, born in 1998, and Sasha Obama, born in 1998.
Michelle Obama had a dating relationship with David Upchurch (in 1982).
Career
Michelle Obama visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens in her first months as First Lady. She also sent representatives to schools and encouraged people to volunteer in their communities.
She supported bills that supported her husband’s policy interests. In honor of the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, she hosted a White House reception for women’s rights advocates.
During trips to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Education, she expressed support for the economic stimulus plan.
Some have praised her legislative efforts, while others have suggested that Michelle Obama should be less involved in politics. According to her representatives, she has planned to visit all Cabinet-level agencies in the United States to familiarize herself with them.
Michelle Obama’s then-chief of staff, Jackie Norris, was replaced by Susan Sher, a longtime friend and adviser, on June 5, 2009. As a senior adviser, Jackie Norris later joined the Corporation for Community and National Service.
Net worth
Not only has she dabbled in politics, business, advocacy, and law, Michelle Obama has also amassed an estimated net worth of $70 million.
Social media
- Instagram Name: @Michelleobama
- Twitter Username: @Michelleobama
- Facebook: Michelle Obama
