Marian Robinson

Marian Shields Robinson
Marian Shields Robinson in 2013
Born	Marian Lois Shields (1937-07-30) July 30, 1937 (age 79) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Known for	U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama's mother
Home town	Chicago, Illinois
Spouse(s)	Fraser C. Robinson III (m. 1960; d. 1991)
Children	Craig Malcolm Robinson Michelle Robinson Obama
Parent(s)	Purnell Nathaniel Shields Rebecca Jumper
Relatives	Barack Obama (son-in-law) Malia and Sasha Obama (granddaughters)

Marian Lois Robinson (née Shields; July 30, 1937) is the mother of former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama and mother-in-law of former President Barack Obama.

Marian Shields was born in Chicago in 1937, the fourth of seven children—five girls, followed by two boys—born to Purnell Nathaniel Shields, a house painter, and his wife Rebecca Jumper, a licensed practical nurse, according to Steve Shields, her youngest sibling. Her ancestors had moved from Georgia to Chicago in the early 20th century during the Great Migration.

As a girl, Marian attended public schools. She married Fraser Robinson on October 27, 1960 in Chicago. She formerly worked as a secretary for mail-order retailer Spiegel and at a bank. Both she and her husband had extended families in Chicago, whom they saw frequently at holidays and other times.

While Michelle and Barack Obama campaigned in 2008, Robinson tended her granddaughters. Early in January 2009, it was announced that Robinson would move into the White House with the rest of the First Family to provide further transition support for her granddaughters. She was the first live-in grandmother there since Elivera M. Doud, the mother of Mamie Eisenhower, during the Eisenhower administration. Some media outlets have dubbed Robinson the "First Granny".