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Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, has died, according to family members.
She was 86 years old.
“My mom Marian Robinson was my rock, always there for whatever I needed,” Obama wrote on X on Friday. “She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today.”
Robinson was born in 1937, one of seven children raised in a “tiny upstairs apartment” that was “on the red-lined South Side of Chicago,” family members wrote in a statement on Medium.
She married Fraser Robinson and had two children, Craig and Michelle.
The family described Marian as a steadfast source of support and encouragement, including when Michelle “married a guy crazy enough to go into politics.”
“At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm, keeping our feet on solid ground,” the family added in its statement. “On Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world, she was there, holding his hand.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
