Former President John F Kennedy’s granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg has died at the age of 35. Her death came just one month after she publicly shared that she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, news that had already deeply shaken many who followed her work.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, December 30, through a post shared on social media by the JFK Library Foundation. The message said: “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts.”
The statement was shared on behalf of her immediate family, including her husband George and their two children, Edwin and Josephine. It also mentioned her parents and siblings, who were listed as part of the message sent out to the public.
Schlossberg was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia shortly after the birth of her second child. The illness is an aggressive form of blood and bone cancer that interferes with the body’s ability to produce healthy cells.
In an effort to fight the disease, she went through two rounds of chemotherapy and received two stem cell transplants. She also took part in several clinical trials as doctors worked to slow the cancer’s progression.
Even while dealing with her illness, she continued to speak publicly about healthcare issues. She focused in particular on how important vaccines were for cancer patients whose immune systems are often severely weakened.
This position led her to openly criticize her relative Robert F Kennedy Jr, who currently serves as US Secretary of Health and Human Services. She strongly disagreed with his public stance against vaccines.
In an essay published in November, she reflected on her time under medical care and wrote: “As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers.”
In that same essay, her thoughts also turned toward her own mortality. She expressed concern about how her death would affect her family, especially given the long history of loss associated with the Kennedy name.
Her grandfather was assassinated in 1963, and her uncle, John F Kennedy Jr., died in a plane crash in 1999. These past tragedies weighed heavily as she considered what her family had already endured.
Schlossberg had built a successful career as a journalist before becoming ill. She was widely respected for her reporting, particularly in the area of environmental issues.
Climate change was her main focus, and she wrote extensively about its impact and the need for action. Many of her articles appeared in major publications, including The New York Times.
In a 2019 interview, she said: “I think climate change is the biggest story in the world, and it’s a story about everything.” She explained that the topic touched science, politics, health, and business all at once.
She also said: “And if I could help communicate about it, that might inspire other people to get involved and work on the issue.” Her work left a lasting impression far beyond the Kennedy family.
