Annette Dionne, the last of the famous ‘Dionne Quintuplets,’ died in a suburb of Montreal on Wednesday at the age of 91.
Dionne’s death was first reported by the New York Times. A family spokesperson told the publication she died due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease.
In a social media post on Friday, the Dionne Quints Home Museum in North Bay, Ont., stated Annette died on Christmas Eve but did not provide further details.
“She believed it was important to maintain the Dionne Quints Museum and the history it provides for the future of all children,” the museum said in the post.
“Annette was the only surviving Quints and was the last surviving sibling amongst the 14 children of the Dionne family … Rest in Peace, Annette.”
On May 28, 1934, Annette, Émilie, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie Dionne were born prematurely near Callander, Ont. They would go on to be known worldwide as the Dionne quintuplets.
They became famous for being the first confirmed set of quintuplets to survive infancy. All five of them lived into adulthood.
Get breaking National news
After four months of care with their family, their custody was signed over to the Red Cross, which paid for their care and oversaw the building of a hospital built specially for them.
In September of 1934, the girls were moved from their family farmhouse to the Dafoe Hospital and Nursery, where they were cared for by Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, the same man who helped deliver them.
The nursery was equipped with public observation areas, barbed wire on the perimeter and on-staff police officers to protect them, as the quintuplets’ new home had become a popular tourist attraction.
It was known to the larger public as ”Quintland.”
Two to three times a week, the sisters would be brought out to the playground to be observed by visitors from all over the world.
Some visitors included King George VI of England and his wife. Amelia Earhart also visited Callander just six weeks before her ill-fated flight in 1937.
The Dionne sisters lived at the nursery until they were nine years old. During that time, they were constantly tested, studied and examined.
Oliva Édouard Dionne, their father, ran a souvenir shop and a woollen store opposite the nursery. Eventually, he began a legal battle to regain custody of his children.
-
![]()
Will the U.S. strike on Venezuela hit Canada’s oil industry? -
![]()
Carney addresses Canada’s future in the Arctic as U.S. doubles down on annexing Greenland -
![]()
WestJet passenger says airline wants them to ‘pay for the other leg’ in cramped airplane -
![]()
Residents in Regina gather to protest U.S. actions in Venezuela
Visitations continued at Quintland while the girls’ father was in court. Between 1934 and when the children moved out in 1943, an estimated three million people visited the nursery.
Later in life, the quintuplets became TV sensations and were featured in a number of commercials. Their life story was recreated in Hollywood movie form three separate times.
The first of the sisters to die was Émilie. She was 20 at the time of her death in 1954.
Marie died in 1970 at the age of 35.
Over the years, the sisters released a handful of stories and were featured in documentaries about their experiences, detailing the dark and uncomfortable life of being constantly on display.
In 1997, Annette, Cecile, and Yvonne claimed that their father had sexually abused them in their book Family Secrets: The Dionne Quintuplets’ Own Story.
The remaining three sisters went back and forth with the Ontario government, claiming money was stolen from their trust fund.
In March 1998, after lengthy negotiations, the Ontario government announced it would pay the three surviving sisters $4 million in compensation for the nine years they spent on display at a tourist theme park.
Three years later, Yvonne died of cancer.
Cecile, the second last surviving sister, died at age 91 on July 28 of this year.
— With files from The Canadian Press
Comments