The granddaughter of former US president John F. Kennedy, Tatiana Schlossberg, has died aged 35.
The climate change activist died on Tuesday after revealing in November she had been diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia.
Tatiana is the second daughter of Edwin Schlossberg and Caroline Kennedy, who served as the US ambassador to Australia from 2022 to 2024.
How was Tatiana’s death announced?
The journalist’s death was announced by her family in a social media post from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the family wrote.
What type of cancer did Tatiana have?
In an essay published in The New Yorker in November, Tatiana revealed that she had acute myeloid leukaemia with a rare mutation.
She explained that this is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow and she had less than a year to live.
When did Tatiana get diagnosed with cancer?
The diagnosis came shortly after she gave birth to her second child with husband George Moran in May last year.
After giving birth, doctors observed that Tatiana had an unusually high white blood cell count.
Subsequent testing confirmed she had leukemia with a rare genetic mutation called Inversion 3, an anomaly present in fewer than 2 percent of cases.
Older adults and first responders exposed to Ground Zero during the September 11 attacks more commonly carry this mutation.
“I did not, could not, believe that they were talking about me,” Schlossberg wrote in the essay.
Showing just how fighting fit she was, Tatiana added: “I had swum a mile in the pool the day before, nine months pregnant. I wasn’t sick, didn’t feel sick. I was actually one of the healthiest people I knew.”
What did Tatiana say about her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.?
In her New Yorker essay titled A Battle With My Blood, Tatiana criticised the appointment of her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as US secretary of health and human services in the Trump administration.
In particular, she disagreed with Robert cutting funding for cancer research and his controversial views on vaccinations.
Is the “Kennedy Curse” real?
Whether curses are real or not is up for debate, what isn’t is the fact that the Kennedy family has faced repeated tragedy over the decades.
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and five years later, his brother Bobby was shot while campaigning.
In 1999, JFK’s son, John F. Kennedy Jr., died in a plane crash along with his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.
David Kennedy (RFK’s son) died of a drug overdose in 1984, and Saoirse Kennedy Hill (RFK’s granddaughter) died from a drug overdose in 2019 at age 22.
And now, Tatiana. Heartbreaking.
Who Tatiana Schlossberg leaves behind
Tatiana Schlossberg is survived by her husband, George Moran, and their children.
She also leaves behind her parents, Caroline Kennedy, the former U.S. ambassador to Japan and daughter of John F. Kennedy, and Edwin Schlossberg, a designer and author.
Tatiana had one sibling, her younger brother Jack Schlossberg, who is the only other child of Caroline and Edwin.
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