Michelle Obama is an American lawyer, writer, and First Lady of the United States. She is married to the 44th and current President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady.
Find out more amazing facts about her, here!
1. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama was born January 17, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois.
2. Her parents were Fraser Robinson III, a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian Shields Robinson, a secretary at Spiegel’s catalog store.
3. Her mother was a full-time homemaker until Michelle entered high school.
4. The Robinson and Shields families trace their roots to pre-Civil War African Americans in the American South.
5. On her father’s side, she is descended from the Gullah people of South Carolina’s Low Country region.
6. Her paternal great-great grandfather, Jim Robinson, was a slave on Friendfield Plantation in South Carolina, the state where some of her paternal family still reside.
7. Her grandfather Fraser Robinson, Jr. built his own house in South Carolina. He and his wife LaVaughn (née Johnson) returned to the Low Country after retirement.
8. Among her maternal ancestors was her great-great-great-grandmother, Melvinia Shields, a slave on Henry Walls Shields’ 200-acre farm in Clayton County, Georgia.
9. Melvinia’s first son, Dolphus T. Shields, was biracial and born into slavery about 1860.
10. Based on DNA and other evidence, in 2012 researchers said his father was likely 20-year-old Charles Marion Shields, son of her master.
11. Melvinia did not talk to relatives about Dolphus’ father.
12. Dolphus Shields moved to Birmingham, Alabama after the Civil War, and some of his children migrated to Cleveland, Ohio and Chicago.
13. All four of her grandparents had multiracial ancestors, reflecting the complex history of the U.S., but her extended family said that people did not talk about the era of slavery when they were growing up.
14. Her distant ancestry includes Irish and other European roots.
15. Her father suffered from multiple sclerosis which had a profound emotional effect on her as she was growing up. She was determined to stay out of trouble and be a good student, which was what her father wanted for her.
16. She grew up with her older brother, Craig, and parents in a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment. She shared the living room with her brother, which was separated by a room divider.
17. She and her brother both skipped a year at school – second grade.
18. As a girl, she loved her “Easy-Bake Oven”, a toy cooker.
19. Michelle was student council treasurer in high school.
20. Growing up, she practised playing the piano so much that she had to be told to stop.
21. Although a great athlete, she shied away from competitive sports because, her big brother says, “she hated losing”.
22. Her father died of complications from multiple sclerosis when she was in her 20s.
23. Michelle attended only public schools while growing up in Chicago.
24. She was assigned Barack’s mentor when he came to her Chicago firm for a summer job.
25. Her first impression of Barack wasn’t great; after seeing a photo of him in the law firm directory she decided he had a big nose.
26. She graduated from a magnet high school as salutatorian before going on to Princeton University and then Harvard Law. She is one of only three first ladies to have a graduate degree (Hillary Clinton also has a J.D., while Laura Bush has a Masters).
27. She declined Barack’s first invitations to go out on a date, saying it would be inappropriate.
28. Her father and brother had always said you could tell a lot about someone’s character on the court, so before agreeing to date Barack, she asked her brother to take him on on the basketball court.
29. Her university dissertation was entitled, “Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community.”
30. Barack proposed at a Chicago restaurant and the ring arrived on a tray with the dessert.
31. Throughout 2007 and 2008, Obama campaigned for her husband’s presidential bid, delivering a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and speaking at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
32. She also spoke during the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where she delivered a speech in support of the Democratic Presidential nominee, and fellow First Lady, Hillary Clinton.
33. As First Lady, Obama has become a fashion icon, a role model for women, and an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition, physical activity, and healthy eating.
34. Their first dance at their wedding was to “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole.
35. Barack and Michelle married in 1992 and have two daughters.
36. Santita Jackson, Jesse Jackson’s daughter and Michelle’s high school classmate, sang at the wedding.
37. She works out “like a gladiator,” according to friends.
38. She hates tights – too “painful.”
39. At the Democratic National Convention in 2004, moments before her husband went on stage to give his speech, she said: “Just don’t screw it up, buddy!”
40. After graduation, she worked for Sidley Austin LLP, the sixth-largest U.S.-based corporate law firm. But in 1993, she left her job to help found a national service program called Public Allies Chicago.
41. She cut back from her six-figure salary with the University of Chicago hospital system to help her husband with his campaign.
42. Michelle makes Barack do the dishes.
43. As vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Centre, Michelle supervised a five hundred per cent increase of volunteerism in the hospital.
44. She was on the board of six major organisations, including the prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and Tree House Foods; and Vice President, Community and External Affairs at the University of Chicago Hospitals.
45. She routinely drew audiences of 1,000-plus supporters, even when she was campaigning on her own, on the trail
46. After her husband’s election to the US Senate, Michelle decided to stay in Chicago with their daughters instead of relocating to Washington, DC.
47. Less than 24 hours after the inaugural balls, replicas of Mrs Obama’s dress were being drawn up – they will be available for sale within weeks, ranging in price from $99 to $400.
48. At 5 ft 11 ins, she is tied with Eleanor Roosevelt for tallest First Lady.
49. Her secret service codename is “Renaissance”.
50. She has committed each episode of The Brady Bunch to memory.
51. When Sasha was four-months-old, Obama was offered an interview for an executive position at the University of Chicago Medical Center , only, she couldn’t find a babysitter. So, she packed the newborn up, stuck her in a stroller and took her along to the interview, where Sasha slept through the whole thing.
52. Michelle Obama is the only first lady to be ranked on Maxim’s “Hot 100” List. In 2009, she came in at No. 93, beating out such beautiful women as Padma Lakshmi and Olivia Munn.
53. Her favorite food is French fries.
Queen of Tears is a popular, successful K-Drama, that became the second highest series in… Read More
"Evil Does Not Exist" is the new film from the Oscar nominated screenwriter and director… Read More
Mufasa: The Lion King is an upcoming American musical drama film directed by Barry Jenkins,… Read More
The Garfield Movie is an upcoming American animated comedy adventure film based on Jim Davis'… Read More
Dove Cameron is an American singer and actress, who rose to fame due to her… Read More
