Updated May 31, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, dies at 86

Sareen Habeshian

Marian Robinson, former First Lady Michelle Obama's mother, arrives prior to the official White House portraits of former US President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama being unveiled during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., US, on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. The portraits of Barack Obam — Marian Robinson, former First Lady Michelle Obama's mother, on Sept. 7, 2022. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Marian Robinson, the mother of former first lady Michelle Obama, has died, the family said in a statement Friday. She was 86.

The big picture: The Chicago-native moved into the White House after her son-in-law, former President Obama, won the presidency, holding his hand through election night in 2008.

"With a healthy nudge, she agreed to move to the White House with Michelle and Barack," the family said in its statement. "We needed her. The girls needed her. And she ended up being our rock through it all."

Driving the news: "She passed peacefully this morning, and right now, none of us are quite sure how exactly we'll move on without her," the statement signed from Robinson's children, their spouses and grandchildren reads.

The statement did not include the cause of death.

What they're saying: "My mom Marian Robinson was my rock, always there for whatever I needed," Michelle Obama wrote on X. "She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today."

Editor's note: This story has been updated with the family's statement.

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Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, dies at 86

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