Tatiana Schlossberg, the environmental journalist and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, died on December 30, 2025, at age 35 after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Schlossberg revealed her terminal diagnosis in a November 22, 2025, essay published in The New Yorker, detailing her fight against a rare mutation of the blood cancer known as Inversion 3. Less than 2% of acute myeloid leukemia cases involve this genetic anomaly, making her condition particularly challenging to treat.
The diagnosis came shortly after Schlossberg gave birth to her daughter in May 2024. “I did not—could not—believe that they were talking about me,” she wrote in the essay. She had swum a mile in the pool the day before going into labor.
Schlossberg underwent intensive treatment at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Her sister, Rose Schlossberg, donated stem cells for the procedure. Despite the aggressive treatment, her doctor told her he could keep her alive for a year, maybe.
She wrote about her concerns for her 3-year-old son and 1 1/2-year-old daughter, reflecting on how they might not remember her.
The daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, Tatiana carved out her own distinguished career as an environmental journalist. She worked for the New York Times and contributed to publications including The Washington Post and The Atlantic. Her book, “Inconspicuous Consumption,” was published in 2019, exploring the hidden environmental impacts of everyday choices.
Schlossberg graduated from Yale, where she met her husband, George Moran, a urologist. The couple married in 2017. She later earned a master’s degree from Oxford, further establishing her credentials as a serious environmental voice.
In her final essay, Schlossberg did not shy away from criticizing her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now serves as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump. She called the vaccine skeptic an embarrassment to her and the rest of her family, expressing frustration over his influence on health policy during her illness and her concerns about access to vaccines she needed after becoming severely immunocompromised.
The essay also revealed the emotional toll of her terminal diagnosis on her family. Her brother, Jack Schlossberg, who is running for Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District, offered to donate stem cells.
Throughout her treatment, Schlossberg continued to write, channeling her experience into powerful prose about mortality, memory, and motherhood. Her work as an environmental journalist had always focused on making complex scientific topics accessible to general audiences, and she brought that same clarity to writing about her illness.
The Kennedy family has endured numerous tragedies over the decades, from President Kennedy’s 1963 assassination to the deaths of Robert F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. Schlossberg’s death adds another painful chapter to the family’s history, particularly devastating given her young age and her two small children.
In her essay, Schlossberg wrote poignantly about the memories she hoped to create with her children in her remaining time, reflecting on trying to be present with them.
Schlossberg is survived by her husband, George Moran, their two young children Edwin and Josephine, her parents Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, and her siblings Rose Schlossberg and Jack Schlossberg. Cousin Maria Shriver paid tribute on social media, remembering Tatiana.
Her legacy extends beyond her family name. Through her environmental journalism and her book, Schlossberg contributed to public understanding of climate issues and sustainable living. Her final essay demonstrated the same commitment to truth-telling and public service that defined the Kennedy family at its best.
