Environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, the granddaughter of former US President John F. Kennedy, died on Tuesday at the age of 35, just weeks after announcing her terminal cancer diagnosis.
“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the family wrote in a statement posted on the JFK Library Foundation’s social media accounts.
What do we know about Schlossberg’s illness?
The late journalist revealed in an essay in The New Yorker in November that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and aggressive type of cancer that is mostly common above the age of 60.
Doctors were first alerted to her condition after she gave birth to her second child in May 2024. They detected an unusually high white blood cell count, which is caused by the disease.
“During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe,” she wrote in her essay. “My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me.”
The late journalist published widely in outlets including The Atlantic and Vanity Fair. In 2019, she published the award-winning book: “Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have.”
She is survived by her husband, George Moran, and their two children.
Where did Schlossberg stand on her relative, RFK Jr.?
Schlossberg, daughter of former diplomat Caroline Kennedy, joined many voices from her family in denouncing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US President Donald Trump’s pick for health secretary.
“I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government,” she wrote.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former Democrat-turned-Trump supporter, has been heavily criticized for his history of promoting vaccine conspiracy theories and misinformation, including by members of his prominent Democratic family.
Before he was confirmed for the post, Schlossberg’s mother Caroline wrote a letter to US senators urging them to vote against her cousin’s nomination as health secretary, describing him as a “predator” who is addicted to power.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
