Last surviving Dionne quintuplet, Annette Dionne, has died: Dionne Quints Home Museum

Annette and her sisters — Emilie, Yvonne, Cécile and Marie — became an instant global sensation from the moment of their birth in the Ontario community of Corbeil on May 28, 1934, as they became the first quintuplets known to survive past infancy.

They were hailed as a salve to the gloom of financial austerity during the Great Depression and became a source of international fascination at a time when multiple births were considered a rarity.

But the sisters said their childhood in the public eye came at extreme personal cost.

When the quintuplets were only months old, the Ontario government took them away from their cash-strapped parents, who already had five children.

Across the street from the family home, the government put them in a nursery-style exhibition called Quintland, where millions of curious tourists lined up to observe the girls sitting in a closed compound through one-way glass, pouring an estimated $500 million into the northern Ontario economy.

The attraction became so popular that it played a role in beginning the expansion of the route between Toronto and North Bay to a four-lane highway to accommodate the flood of tourists coming to visit the quintuplets.

Hollywood made movies about the girls, and companies such as Kellogg’s and Palmolive made them their ambassadors. Five identical ships were named after the sisters during the Second World War.

Once the quintuplets were 18 years old, they moved to Montreal and out of the public eye. Emilie died in August 1954, followed by Marie in 1970.

In 1998, the three remaining quintuplets received a $4-million settlement from the Ontario government after raising concerns about the alleged mismanagement of a trust fund set up to provide for their future.

Three years later, one of the sisters, Yvonne, died of cancer.

In a 2019 interview with The Canadian Press, Annette and her sister Cécile, who died in July, reflected on their time on display, and said parents must view childhood as a precious time that should not be exploited for profit.

“It can cause lots of damage,” Annette said. “Children need help and love, and everything we can give them.”

As they aged, the media-shy sisters worked to put their complicated childhood behind them, only returning to the public eye to make sure their past was recognized and the misfortune they endured wasn’t repeated.

“I realize that many times bad things (happened) because money was the big question,” Annette said in 2019. “It’s very hard to fight against it.”

As social media was ushering in a new era of childhood stardom with so-called kidfluencers — paid to promote products in sponsored videos and posts — Annette expressed unease.

“The children should be sure of their choice to become a star,” Annette said from her Montreal home in 2019. “They need lots of understanding and advice.”

The Dionne quintuplets’ family home has since been moved from its original site and transformed into a museum in North Bay, Ont., where dozens of photos and memorabilia are displayed to commemorate the family’s legacy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2025.

— By Fakiha Baig in Edmonton

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Last surviving Dionne quintuplet, Annette Dionne, has died: Dionne Quints Home Museum

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