The Kennedy family is mourning the loss of Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who passed away at the age of 35 after a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia. Her death was confirmed by the JFK Library Foundation, which released a statement from the family announcing her passing. “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the message stated, signed by her parents, siblings, and other close relatives.
Tatiana Schlossberg was the middle child of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg. She was an environmental journalist and author, as well as a mother to two young children. Earlier this year, she revealed her leukaemia diagnosis in an essay published in The New Yorker, titled “A Battle With My Blood.” The announcement coincided with the 62nd anniversary of JFK’s assassination and detailed how doctors discovered the illness during routine blood tests conducted after she gave birth to her daughter in May 2024.
In her essay, Tatiana described the shock of her diagnosis. “I did not, could not, believe that they were talking about me. I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick,” she wrote. Doctors later confirmed that she had acute myeloid leukaemia with a rare mutation known as Inversion 3, which they stated could not be cured using standard treatments.
Over the course of her illness, Tatiana underwent chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and two bone marrow transplants. Her sister, Rose Schlossberg, was a match and donated stem cells for her first transplant. At the start of 2025, Tatiana joined a clinical trial for CAR-T cell therapy, a form of immunotherapy that has shown promise in treating some blood cancers. Despite these efforts, her doctors could only promise to keep her alive “for a year, maybe.”
In her writings, Tatiana poignantly reflected on the emotional toll of her illness, particularly the impact on her children. She explained that the risk of infection after her transplants prevented her from performing basic caregiving tasks, stating, “I was gone for almost half of her first year of life. I don’t know who, really, she thinks I am.” She expressed deep concern that her children might not remember her, adding guilt over the burden her illness placed on her mother.
“For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” Tatiana wrote.
Tragedy has long shadowed the Kennedy family, with the so-called “Kennedy Curse” often cited to explain a series of misfortunes and losses. Caroline Kennedy has faced repeated heartbreak throughout her life, beginning with the loss of her father, JFK, who was assassinated in 1963 when she was just five years old.
The family’s history of tragedy began during World War II, when JFK’s eldest brother, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., was killed in 1944 at the age of 29 while piloting a secret mission. A few years later, in 1948, JFK’s sister, Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish, died in a plane crash in France at the age of 28.
The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, JFK’s brother, in 1968 further deepened the family’s grief. He was shot while campaigning for the presidency, following significant primary victories, at the age of 42. The family endured more loss in the following decades with the deaths of several of Robert’s children, including David Kennedy, who died of a drug overdose in 1984, and Michael Kennedy, who died in a skiing accident in 1997.
In 1994, Caroline lost her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who passed away from non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 64. Jacqueline had lived much of her life in the public eye and was interred alongside her husband at Arlington National Cemetery. Tragedy struck again in July 1999 when Caroline’s only sibling, John F. Kennedy Jr., died in a plane crash at the age of 38, along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette, and her sister.
Tatiana Schlossberg’s death adds another chapter to the Kennedy family’s history of loss. She also used her platform to address political issues, particularly criticizing her second cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for his appointment as U.S. health secretary and his views on vaccines and medical research funding. In her New Yorker essay, she expressed concern about the implications of reduced research funding, particularly as a patient reliant on clinical trials.
As Caroline Kennedy faces the profound grief of losing her father, mother, brother, and now her daughter, the family has not yet announced details regarding funeral arrangements. The impact of Tatiana’s passing reverberates through a family that has endured more than its share of heartache, leaving behind a legacy of resilience amidst continuing tragedy.
