Home > News & Advice > News Obituaries > Kezia Obama (2021), Barack Obama’s stepmother

Kezia Obama (2021), Barack Obama’s stepmother

by Linnea Crowther

Kezia Obama was Barack Obama’s stepmother and the mother of his half siblings.

Proud of her stepson

Obama was the first wife of Barack Obama Sr., the former president’s father. Her children included Malik and Auma Obama, the half-siblings of Barack Obama. A native of Kenya, she settled in Bracknell, Berkshire, England after her daughter moved there. When she first met her stepson in 1987, she noted that he reminded her of his father. She attended President Obama’s inauguration in 2009.

Obama on her stepson

“[H]e was just smart like Barack Senior, talking like Barack Senior,” she said. “He just wanted to talk to people. To know about what his father was doing in Kenya and then about Kenya, about politics. Just to know everybody in Kenya.” —from a 2009 interview for the BBC

Tributes to Kezia Obama

Full obituary: Newsweek

View More Legacy Videos

More Stories