FACTBOX: Michelle Obama's turn in the spotlight

Aug 25 Reuters) - Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, will be the featured speaker at the opening night of the party's nominating convention on Monday.

Here are some facts about the woman who would be the first African-American first lady if her husband is elected on November 4:

* Obama, 44, met her husband through her work as a corporate lawyer and is his closest adviser, although associates have described her role as less of a policy-oriented one than that of a confidante who provides a reality check.

* Educated at Princeton and Harvard, Obama was initially reticent about getting involved in the election campaign, but now draws large crowds of her own.

* Obama has taken time off from her job as a vice president of community relations at the University of Chicago Hospitals to campaign for her husband.

* Her first priority if she becomes first lady would be her two young daughters, but she would also hope to focus on how women can maintain a work-family balance.

* Critics seized on her comment that "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country" as evidence of a lack of patriotism, a charge her husband also has faced.

* Known for a sense of style, Obama has appeared in Vogue and been compared to former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. She was widely praised by fashion writers for the violet sheath dress she wore to her husband's Democratic nomination victory rally.

* Asked in a CBS interview last week what his wife would wear for her prime-time television appearance on Monday, Obama replied: "You know, there -- there are some things that even I don't know. And what Michelle is going to wear is a tightly held secret."

(Editing by Howard Goller)