Marian Robinson, mother of former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, who provided support and stability, especially during the eight years of Barack Obama's presidency, died on Friday, the Obama and Robinson families said. She was 86.
In a statement, her family said that Robinson had died "peacefully" on Friday morning.
Robinson was a well-known fixture at the White House during the eight years of Barack Obama's administration between 2009 and 2017.
She spent much of that time taking care of her two granddaughters, Michelle and Barack Obama's daughters Malia and Sasha.
In a statement posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Mrs Obama called Robinson her "rock, always there for whatever I needed".
"She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today," she wrote.
In a separate tweet, Mr Obama said that “there was and will be only one Marian Robinson”.
“In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life,” he added. “And we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example.”
No further details were given about the cause of death.
Born in 1937, Robinson grew up one of seven children in Chicago, the city where she spent much of her life before agreeing to come to Washington DC after Mr Obama’s electoral victory.
Early in her life, she studied to become a teacher before working as a secretary. She raised Michelle and her other child, Craig, together with her husband Frasier Robinson on Chicago's South Side.
"At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm," the Obama statement said.
"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."
An image taken on the night in 2008 when her son-in-law made history as the nation's first African-American president showed Robinson sitting on a sofa with him, watching the results come in.
BBC
