John F. Kennedy's granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg revealed the devastating news on November 22 that she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the choice of date didn't go unnoticed, as it is also the same date her grandfather was assassinated in 1963.
JFK was the 35th president of the United States, and he was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, with his wife, Jackie Kennedy. His death in 1963 changed the course of American history forever, with his Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson then leading the country through a decade of cultural and political change.
© Bettmann ArchiveLee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested for the murder. Two days later, Lee was murdered by local nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live television in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters. The events of those days in November have led to sixty-plus years of conspiracy theories, including speculation of a second shooter on the Grassy Knoll.
Tatiana is the granddaughter of JFK, the daughter of John's eldest daughter, Caroline, and her husband Edwin Schlossberg. The 35-year-old revealed in an essay, published by The New Yorker titled "A Battle With My Blood," that she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia after her doctor detected an abnormal white blood cell count following the birth of her second child in May 2024.
© Getty Images for New York MagaziTatiana was later diagnosed with "a rare mutation called Inversion 3", a subtype of AML, characterized by a specific chromosomal abnormality where the genes on chromosome 3 are rearranged.
Tatiana underwent months of chemotherapy followed by an allogeneic stem cell transplant. "My parents and my brother and sister, too, have been raising my children and sitting in my various hospital rooms almost every day for the last year and a half. They have held my hand unflinchingly while I have suffered," she wrote. Her sister, Rose Schlossberg, served as her bone marrow donor, providing the critical cells necessary for the transplant.
© Getty ImagesTatiana, 35, is the mother to three-year-old son Edwin, and one-year-old daughter. They have moved into her parents' home with their father, Dr George Moran.
Tatiana also referenced the Kennedy family's so-called curse that has plagued their family for decades in her essay, writing: "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."
© Getty ImagesDeaths through accidents and assassinations, as well as heartbreaking tragedies, have impacted almost all of the family members from the early 20th century.
In 1944, JFK's uncle Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. died when the military aircraft he was piloting exploded over East Suffolk, England, and in 1948 Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy died in a plane crash in France.
In 1964, Ted Kennedy, JFK's younger brother, survived a plane crash that killed one of his aides as well as the pilot after it crashed near an apple orchard in Massachusetts.
© Bettmann ArchiveFive years later, Ted accidentally drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, resulting in the drowning of 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. During a live statement made on TV, he wondered "whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys".
In July 1999, JFK's son John F. Kennedy Jr. died together with his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her sister Lauren, when the plane he was piloting crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
© Getty ImagesDuring their marriage, JFK and his wife Jackie buried two of their children, as Arabella Kennedy died at birth in 1956, and their son Patrick died of infant respiratory distress syndrome two days after his premature birth on August 7, 1963.
JFK's brother Robert F. Kennedy, the Democratic presidential candidate, was also assassinated in 1969 on the night of his victory in the California primary.
Other deaths have taken place due to skiing accidents, drug overdoses, and drownings.
