Annette Dionne, Last of the Famous Quintuplets, Dies at 91

Annette Dionne, the final survivor of the five identical sisters who became a global medical marvel and media sensation in the 1930s, has died at age 91. Born on May 28, 1934, in a small Canadian farmhouse, Annette and her sisters—Cécile, Yvonne, Marie, and Émilie—were the world’s first known quintuplets to survive infancy. Their birth during the Great Depression sparked an international frenzy. They were made wards of the state and displayed to tourists in a specially built hospital-nursery called "Quintland," where millions paid to watch them. The sisters later said they felt like zoo animals. In adulthood, they fought for and won financial control from the government. They wrote a memoir describing their childhood as a harsh, lonely exploitation. Annette was often noted in early reports as the first to reach developmental milestones. She became a registered nurse and, with Cécile, was the last to leave the family home. Her death marks the end of a unique chapter in both medical history and the story of celebrity exploitation.