Biography
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 20, 1964), addressed as Michelle Obama, is a renowned politician, author, attorney, and businesswoman from the United States. She served as the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
She was the first African-American woman to hold this post in the United States. She is former President Barack Obama‘s wife.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, Michelle Obama campaigned for her husband’s presidential campaign, giving a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention 2008.
During her tenure as the first lady, Michelle Obama acted as a role model for women and promoted poverty awareness, education, nutrition, physical exercise, and healthy eating. She was a fashion icon and a supporter of American designers.
| Michelle Obama | |
|---|---|
| Wiki Facts & About Data | |
| Full Name: | Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama |
| Stage Name: | Michelle Obama |
| Born: | 17 January 1964 (age 62 years old) |
| 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 m |
| Parents: | Fraser C. Robinson III, Marian Shields Robinson |
| Siblings: | Craig Robinson |
| Husband • Spouse: | Barack Obama (m. 1992) |
| Boyfriend • Partner: | David Upchurch (1982) |
| Children: | Malia Ann Obama, Sasha Obama |
| Occupation: | Attorney • Author |
| Net Worth: | US$70 million |
Early Life
Michelle Obama was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on January 17, 1964. Her grandparents were Purnell Nathaniel Shields, Fraser Robinson, Jr., LaVaughn Dolores Johnson, and Rebecca Jumper. She has a brother named Craig Robinson.
Fraser C. Robinson III, her father, was a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain who was born in 1935. Marian Shields Robinson, her mother, was born on July 30, 1937, and worked as a secretary at Spiegel’s catalog business. Michelle Obama‘s mother was a stay-at-home mom until she started high school.
The Robinsons traced their ancestry to pre-Civil War African Americans in the American South. She is a descendant of the Gullah people of South Carolina’s Low Country on her father’s side.
Jim Robinson, her paternal great-great-grandfather, was born into slavery on Friendfield Plantation near Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1850. After the war, he became a free man at the age of 15. Some members of Michelle Obama‘s paternal family still live in Georgetown.
Fraser Robinson, Jr., her grandfather, built his own home in South Carolina. After retiring from Chicago, he and his wife, LaVaughn Dolores Johnson, relocated to the Low Country.
Melvinia Dosey Shields, her great-great-great-grandmother, was also born into slavery in South Carolina but sold to Henry Walls Shields. The latter had a 200-acre farm near Atlanta in Clayton County, Georgia.
Adolphus Theodore Shields, Melvinia Dosey Shields‘ first son, was multiracial and born into slavery around 1860. In 2012, experts concluded that his father was 20-year-old Charles Marion Shields, Melvinia Dosey Shields‘ master, based on DNA and other evidence.
They may have had a long-term connection, as she produced two additional mixed-race children after independence and resided close to Shields, adopting his surname.
Education
Michelle Obama was motivated 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 in 1985 after writing a 99-page final thesis under the direction of Walter Wallace titled Princeton Educated Blacks and the Black Community.
She claims that several high school instructors tried to persuade her not to apply and that she was told not to raise her eyes too high.
Michelle Obama believed that her brother’s alumnus status, who graduated in 1983 and went on to teach basketball at Oregon State University and Brown University, would have helped her get admitted. Still, she was determined to prove her merit.
She has admitted to feeling overwhelmed during her freshman year, although she blames it on the fact that none of her parents had graduated from college and she had never visited a college campus.
Personal Life
Michelle Obama met Barack Obama at their law firm, Sidley Austin LLP, where they were among the few African Americans working with the firm. While he was a summer associate, she was supposed to mentor him. Their relationship began with a business lunch and then a community group meeting, where he impressed her for the first time.
Michelle Obama told her mother that she planned to focus on completing her job before meeting Barack Obama solemnly. On their first date in 1989, the couple went to see Spike Lee’s film titled Do the Right Thing. Barack Obama has remarked that the couple’s first attraction to each other was based on opposites attract because Michelle Obama had stability from her two-parent family while he was adventurous.
On October 3, 1992, they finally tied the knot. Michelle Obama had in vitro fertilization to conceive their daughters Malia Ann Obama, born in 1998, and Sasha Obama, born in 1998.
Michelle Obama has been in a dating relationship with David Upchurch (1982).
Career
Michelle Obama visited homeless shelters and soup kitchens during her first months as First Lady. She also sent representatives to schools and encouraged people to volunteer in the community.
She advocated for bills that supported her husband’s policy interests. In honor of the enactment of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, she hosted a White House reception for women’s rights campaigners.
During trips to the US Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Education, she expressed support for the economic stimulus plan.
Some people praised her legislative efforts, while others suggested Michelle Obama should be less involved in politics. According to her representatives, she planned to visit all Cabinet-level agencies in the United States in order to become acquainted with them.
Michelle Obama‘s then-chief of staff, named Jackie Norris, was replaced with Susan Sher, a longtime friend, and adviser, on June 5, 2009. As a senior adviser, Jackie Norris later joined the Corporation for National and Community Service.
Net Worth
Not only has she familiarized herself with the things of politics, business, advocation, and legal practitioner, but Michelle Obama has also accumulated an estimated net worth of US$70 million.
Social Media
- Instagram handle: @Michelleobama
- Twitter handle: @Michelleobama
- Facebook: Michelle Obama