Tatiana Schlossberg, an environmental journalist and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, has died at 35 from acute myeloid leukemia. She revealed her terminal illness in a New Yorker essay, where she also criticized her mother's cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s health policies.
Tatiana Schlossberg, 35, an environmental journalist and one of President John F. Kennedy's grandchildren, has passed away after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia last year. Schlossberg, the daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, publicly disclosed her terminal cancer diagnosis in a November 2025 essay in The New Yorker titled 'A Battle With My Blood.' She was diagnosed in May 2024, at age 34, when doctors found a high white blood cell count during the birth of her second child, revealing a rare mutation of acute myeloid leukemia. Despite undergoing rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants, and participating in clinical trials, she was informed by her doctor that she might only have a year left to live. In her poignant essay, Schlossberg also voiced strong criticism against policies supported by her mother's cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., particularly his actions regarding mRNA vaccine research, which she argued could negatively impact cancer patients like herself. Her mother, Caroline Kennedy, had also urged senators to reject his confirmation. An acclaimed environmental reporter for The New York Times' Science section, Schlossberg was the author of the award-winning 2019 book 'Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have.' She expressed deep fears that her young children would not remember her and profound sadness about being cheated out of her 'wonderful life' with her husband, George Moran. Maria Shriver, a niece of JFK, remembered Schlossberg as 'the light, the humor, the joy,' a valiant, strong, courageous, and 'wicked smart' journalist who dedicated her words to educating others about saving the Earth. Schlossberg's death adds another chapter to the Kennedy family's history of tragic losses.
