The granddaughter of former US President John F. Kennedy, Tatiana Schlossberg, has died at the age of 35, her family has confirmed. The mother-of-two passed away following a courageous battle with an aggressive form of blood cancer.
A devastating diagnosis after childbirth
Tatiana was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in May 2024 after undergoing routine blood tests following the birth of her second child. At the time, she expressed profound shock, stating she "did not — could not — believe that they were talking about me." Remarkably, she had felt perfectly healthy, having swum a mile while nine months pregnant just the day before her tests.
Her treatment plan involved intensive chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant. Her sister, Rose, was a match and donated stem cells for Tatiana's first transfusion. Her brother, Jack, was a half-match and persistently asked doctors if his donation could still be of use.
A family's heartbreak and a mother's fears
In a moving op-ed written during her treatment, Tatiana revealed her deepest anguish was for her young family. When initially given a prognosis of "maybe" a year to live, her thoughts immediately turned to her children, Edwin and Josephine, whom she shared with her husband, George Moran.
She heartbreakingly questioned whether her infant daughter would ever "feel or remember" her, as she was "gone" for almost half of the baby's first year due to hospitalisation. She feared her son's few memories of her would become confused with photographs and stories told by others.
Her mother, Caroline Kennedy, was just five years old when her father, President JFK, was assassinated in 1963. Tatiana wrote that her illness felt like "a new tragedy" for a family already acquainted with profound loss, following the death of her uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., in a plane crash three decades prior.
Watching a political scandal from a hospital bed
Even while undergoing treatment, Tatiana publicly addressed the controversy surrounding her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his appointment as Health and Human Services Secretary under President Donald J. Trump, despite having no medical experience.
Writing from her hospital bed, she criticised his confirmation "in the face of logic and common sense" and detailed policies she saw as damaging, including cuts to mRNA vaccine research—a technology with potential cancer applications—and slashing funding for the National Institutes of Health.
The JFK Library Foundation announced her passing on social media, with a statement from her family reading: "Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts." The message was signed by her immediate family, including her husband, children, parents, and siblings.
