Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and the granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy, has died. Her death at age 35 is the latest example of a member of the Kennedy family to die at a young age, and it comes as several members of the family have returned to political prominence.
Schlossberg dies after public reflection on terminal diagnosis
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced Tuesday that “our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts.” The post, which did not give additional details, was signed by her husband, George Moran, and their young children, Edwin and Josephine. It was also signed by Schlossberg’s parents, Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, as well as her siblings, Jack and Rose, and Rose’s wife, Rory McAuliffe.
Schlossberg’s death comes a month after she published an essay in The New Yorker revealing that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia after the May 2024 birth of her daughter. After her diagnosis with a form of blood cancer rarely seen in someone her age, Schlossberg underwent multiple treatments, including chemotherapy, stem cell transplants from her sister, Rose, and entering a clinical trial for CAR-T-cell therapy; Schlossberg also had to retake the vaccines she had received as a child due to her compromised immune system. Her cancer nonetheless returned, leading to a terminal diagnosis. Schlossberg’s New Yorker essay also expressed her dismay with the actions of her cousin, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who Schlossberg called “an embarrassment to me and the rest of my immediate family” as she bemoaned his opposition to the types of medical treatments that were prolonging her life.
Schlossberg’s career added to the Kennedy family’s history of public impact
Schlossberg’s having cancer interrupted her career as a journalist and environmentalist. A graduate of Yale University and Oxford University, she worked as a journalist for several publications, including The New York Times. She covered a number of environmental issues in her work and wrote the award-winning 2019 book Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have. Her plans to write a second book focusing on climate change and oceans were interrupted by her leukemia diagnosis and subsequent treatment.
Schlossberg’s death comes at a time when the Kennedy family has been in the spotlight. Her cousin’s prominent role in the Trump administration has stood in contrast to the family’s long history with the Democratic Party, and his personal scandals and anti-science stances have drawn criticism from other members of the family. Schlossberg’s brother, Jack, recently launched a campaign for Congress to represent parts of Manhattan. And various members of the family have strongly objected to President Donald Trump’s allies adding Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in defiance of federal law.
The Kennedy family’s outspokenness and political prominence has been matched with the tragedies of several members dying at young ages, including Schlossberg’s grandfather and her uncle, John F. Kennedy, Jr. Schlossberg recognized that her pending death would add to the family’s history of heartbreak, but her passing also leaves behind a career of outspokenness and activism that added to the Kennedys’ public legacy.