Marian Robinson, the mother of former US First Lady Michelle Obama, has died at the age of 86, the Obama family announced in a statement on Friday.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Mrs Obama said, “My mom Marian Robinson was my 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.”

In a separate tweet, Mr Obama said, “there was and will be only one Marian Robinson.

“In our sadness, we are lifted up by the extraordinary gift of her life, and we will spend the rest of ours trying to live up to her example.”

Robinson was born in Chicago in 1937 and raised her children, Michelle and Craig, on the city’s South Side. She later moved to the White House to support her daughter’s family during Barack Obama’s presidency.

The Obama family’s statement reads in part:

“Marian Lois Shields Robinson — our mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother — had a way of summing up the truths about life in a word or two, maybe a quick phrase that made everyone around her stop and think.

“Her wisdom came off as almost innate, as something she was born with, but in reality it was hard-earned, fashioned by her deep understanding that the world’s roughest edges could always be sanded down with a little grace.

“At every step, as our families went down paths none of us could have predicted, she remained our refuge from the storm.

“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.

“With a healthy nudge, she agreed to move to the White House with Michelle and Barack. We needed her. The girls needed her. And she ended up being our rock through it all.”