Tatiana Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy's granddaughter, dies after battling terminal cancer

Tatiana Schlossberg, an environmental journalist and granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy, has died at age 35 after facing terminal cancer. The information was confirmed Tuesday by the JFK Library Foundation, which announced her passing in a brief statement and noted that she will always be remembered by her family and loved ones.

Her passing comes shortly after she herself publicly recounted her illness in a personal essay published in The New Yorker. In that text, she explained that in May 2024, shortly after giving birth to her second child, she was diagnosed with a rare mutation of acute myeloid leukemia, news she described as difficult to assimilate in the midst of her recent motherhood.

A devastating diagnosis after the birth of her daughter

In her essay, Schlossberg recounted that she initially could not believe the doctors were talking about her when they explained the severity of the diagnosis. She related that she had a young son and a newborn daughter, and found it impossible to accept that this was her new reality. The text was published on the 62nd anniversary of the assassination of her grandfather, President Kennedy.

Throughout the story, she described the last 18 months as an intense medical process, marked by aggressive treatments and a constant search for alternatives that would allow her to stay alive. She noted that her oncologist explored options in different places in hopes of finding an effective treatment.

Treatments, family support and relapse

Schlossberg detailed that she started with chemotherapy and subsequently underwent a bone marrow transplant, for which her sister Rose donated stem cells.

After about 50 days of treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, she went into remission and returned home. However, upon starting a new round of chemotherapy, the cancer returned. She later entered a clinical trial and then underwent a second transplant.