Michelle Obama

1964 – present · age 62^[1][2]

Politics & Leadership

Fun Facts About Michelle Obama

• Michelle Obama was assigned to mentor Barack Obama when he was a summer associate at her Chicago law firm; their first date was Spike Lee's movie Do the Right Thing.^[1][3][4]
• Obama planted the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt's time and had beehives installed on the South Lawn, supplying honey for state dinners.^[1][5][6]
• Her memoir Becoming sold 11.5 million copies by November 2019, and its audiobook won her a Grammy Award in 2020.^[1]
• In 2011 Obama became the first woman ever to appear on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens, and the first person of any kind in 48 years.^[1]
• Obama and her brother Craig both skipped second grade, and her round-trip commute to Chicago's first magnet high school took three hours.^[1]
• Some of her high school teachers tried to talk her out of applying to Princeton, warning against "setting my sights too high"; she followed her brother there anyway.^[1]
• Michelle Obama was alive at the same time as Igor Stravinsky — their lives overlapped for 7 years (1964–1971).^[1][2][7][8]
• Michelle Obama shares a birthday with Benjamin Franklin: both were born on January 17.^{[1][2][9][10]}

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American attorney and author who served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 as the wife of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.^[1]

Contemporaries

Noam Chomsky

62 yr overlap

Wole Soyinka

62 yr overlap

Dalai Lama

62 yr overlap

Woody Allen

62 yr overlap

Francis Ford Coppola

62 yr overlap

Bob Dylan

62 yr overlap

Billie Jean King

62 yr overlap

Aung San Suu Kyi

62 yr overlap

Steven Spielberg

62 yr overlap

Oprah Winfrey

62 yr overlap

Rigoberta Menchú

62 yr overlap

Ai Weiwei

62 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Michelle Obama

When was Michelle Obama born?

Michelle Obama was born on January 17, 1964, and is alive today.

How old is Michelle Obama?

Michelle Obama was born on January 17, 1964, and turned 62 on January 17, 2026.

What is Michelle Obama known for?

Michelle Obama is known for: First Lady of the United States, author of Becoming. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American attorney and author who served as First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 as the wife of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.

Who was alive at the same time as Michelle Obama?

Michelle Obama's closest contemporary was Noam Chomsky. Their lives overlapped for 62 years.