Remembering the Last of the Quintuplets from the Great Depression: A Life Beyond Challenges at 91

Annette and Cecile Dionne in 1995.
Credit:

AP Photo/Paul Chiasson

NEED TO KNOW

• Annette Dionne, one of the famous Dionne quintuplets, has died at the age of 91.
• She and her four sisters — Marie, Yvonne, Cécile, and Émilie — gained worldwide fame following their premature birth on a farm in Ontario, Canada, on May 28, 1934.
• The Dionne Quints Museum reported that Annette “championed children’s rights” throughout her life.

Annette Dionne, the last surviving member of the renowned Dionne quintuplets, passed away at the age of 91. Her death occurred on December 24 at a Montreal hospital due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, as confirmed by family spokesperson Carlo Tarini.

The news was also shared by the Dionne Quints Home Museum in North Bay, Ontario, the relocated birthplace of the quintuplets. “It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Annette on Christmas Eve,” the museum stated on Facebook. “Much beloved, Annette had championed children’s rights and believed it was important to maintain the Dionne Quints Museum and its historical significance for future generations.”

Dionne quintuplets in 1935.

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Annette and her sisters — Marie, Yvonne, Cécile, and Émilie — gained global recognition as the first quintuplets known to survive infancy after their premature birth in Corbeil, Ontario. They weighed a combined 14 pounds at birth. In 1935, at just one year old, they were showcased at the World’s Fair in Chicago, becoming a significant tourist attraction.

Reflecting on their unusual childhood, the sisters described, “We dwelt at the center of a circus. A carnival set in the middle of nowhere. Money was the monster. So many around us were unable to resist the temptation,” in their 1964 autobiography, We Were Five.

While their parents regained custody after a legal battle when the sisters were nine, they chose to sever ties with their family at the age of 18. In the mid-1990s, Annette, Cécile, and Yvonne disclosed in their book, The Dionne Quintuplets: Family Secrets, that they had endured sexual abuse from their father during individual car rides.

Dionne quintuplets in 1950.

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In 2018, Annette returned to the cabin where she and her sisters were born, attending a ceremony honoring their birth as a National Historic Event. Tarini commented at the time, “There was a lot of suffering for the sisters as part of their childhood. What we want to do is talk about the good that can come out of their existence and their survival.”

Prior to Annette’s passing, her sister Cécile died in July after a prolonged illness. Émilie passed away in 1954, Marie in 1970, and Yvonne in 2001.