The Dionne quintuplets (; born May 28, 1934) were the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy. The identical girls were born just outside Callander, Ontario, near the village of Corbeil. All five survived to adulthood.
The Dionne girls were born prematurely. After four months with their family, custody was signed over to the Red Cross, which paid for their care and oversaw the building of a hospital for the sisters. Less than a year after this agreement was signed, the Ontario government stepped in and passed the Dionne Quintuplets' Guardianship Act, 1935, which made them wards of the Crown until the age of 18. The Ontario provincial government and those around them began to profit by making them a significant tourist attraction.
Family Oliva Édouard Dionne (1904–1979) and Elzire Dionne (; 1909–1986) married on September 15, 1925, and lived on a farm near Corbeil, Ontario. They were a French Canadian farming family and had fourteen children, all born at home. Together they had six sons and eight daughters. One son, Léo Dionne, died of pneumonia shortly after birth, while the remaining thirteen children survived to adulthood. Before the quintuplets were born in 1934, Oliva and Elzire had six children. After the quintuplets, they had three more sons. Their children are listed below in birth order.
+ Children of Oliva and Elzire Dionne Birth order Child Born Died Age at death Notes 1 Ernest Dionne 1926 1995 approx. 68–69 Eldest child 2 Rose Marie Dionne 1928 1995 approx. 66–67 3 Thérèse Dionne 1929 2021 approx. 91–92 4 Léo Dionne 1930 1930 Infancy Died of pneumonia shortly after birth 5 Daniel Dionne 1932 1995 approx. 62–63 6 Pauline Dionne 1933 2018 approx. 84–85 Eleven months older than the quintuplets 7 Yvonne Édouilda Marie Dionne 1934 2001 67 First-born quintuplet 8 Annette Lillianne Marie Dionne 1934 2025 91 Second-born quintuplet 9 Cécile Marie Émilda Dionne 1934 2025 91 Third-born quintuplet 10 Émilie Marie Jeanne Dionne 1934 1954 20 Fourth-born quintuplet 11 Marie Reine Alma Dionne 1934 1970 35 Fifth-born quintuplet 12 Oliva Dionne Jr. 1936 2017 approx. 80–81 13 Victor Dionne 1938 2007 approx. 68–69 14 Claude Dionne 1946 2009 approx. 62–63 Youngest child Pregnancy and delivery
In 1933, Elzire Dionne was 24 years old when she became pregnant with the quintuplets. Living on the family's farm near Corbeil, Ontario, she believed she was expecting twins, as naturally conceived quintuplets were not thought possible at the time. During her pregnancy she experienced severe fluid retention and anaemia. During her third month, she later recalled suffering painful cramps and passing what she thought was the remains of another fetus. Later authors suggested this may have been a sixth fetus that did not survive.
Like many women living in rural northern Ontario during the early 1930s, Elzire had little access to prenatal care. Based on the size and appearance of her abdomen, her physician, Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, believed her pregnancy involved a fetal abnormality rather than multiple babies. Neither Elzire nor her doctors realized she was carrying quintuplets until labour began during the night of May 28, 1934.
When labour began, Elzire's husband, Oliva Dionne, summoned Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe and two local midwives, Donalda "Aunt Donalda" Groulx and Madame Benoît Lebel, to assist with the delivery. The quintuplets were born prematurely, but all five survived the delivery. Following the birth, Elzire went into shock but recovered within two hours.
The newborn quintuplets
Born prematurely on May 28, 1934, together the quintuplets weighed at birth. The heaviest weighed , while the lightest weighed . Their individual weights and measurements were not recorded.
Immediately after birth, the quintuplets were wrapped in cotton sheets and old napkins and placed together in the corner of their parents' bed. They were then moved to a wicker basket borrowed from neighbours, covered with heated blankets, and taken to the family's kitchen, where they were kept warm beside the open stove. During their first 24 hours, they were massaged with olive oil and fed water sweetened with corn syrup every two hours. By the second day, they had been moved to a larger laundry basket lined with hot-water bottles and were being fed a formula made from cow's milk, boiled water, corn syrup, and small amounts of rum, which was then believed to act as a stimulant. They were watched constantly and often had to be roused.
Later research confirmed that the sisters had developed from a single fertilized egg, making them identical quintuplets. Émilie and Marie had shared one amniotic sac, while Annette and Yvonne had shared another. Based on their mother Elzire Dionne's account of her pregnancy, later authors suggested that Cécile may have shared an amniotic sac with a sixth fetus that did not survive. Researchers also found that all but Émilie were right-handed, while all but Marie had a counterclockwise hair whorl.
Public reception and support News of the unusual birth spread quickly, sparked by Oliva's brother's inquiry to the local newspaper editor about how much he would charge for an announcement of five babies at a single birth. Before long, people from all over North America were offering assistance. Individuals sent supplies and well-meant advice. A famous letter from Appalachia recommended tiny doses of burnt rye whisky to prevent diarrhea.Reprinted in Charlie Blake, a reporter from the Chicago American newspaper, found an old incubator from 1895 that did not run on electricity and brought it to the Dionne home, which lacked electricity.
A second incubator was brought by the Toronto Star newspaper, which had three more built from antique blueprints. Assistance was offered by women who donated their breast milk to the quintuplets. The women were compensated for their donations, receiving ten cents per ounce of milk donated. This allowed women to help with household income during the Great Depression. Once the milk was received, it was preserved and sent by train to the quintuplets. Dr. Alan Brown of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children ensured that twenty-eight ounces of breast milk was delivered to the quintuplets each morning.
Removal from family
At two months old, the Dionne quintuplets were removed from their parents' care after Oliva and Elzire Dionne signed a temporary two-year agreement placing the sisters under the guardianship of the Canadian Red Cross. Although intended to protect the quintuplets while a legal dispute was resolved, the agreement marked the beginning of their separation from their family for most of their childhood.
The agreement followed a dispute over a contract to exhibit the quintuplets at Chicago's Century of Progress exposition. Within days of the sisters' birth in May 1934, promoters approached their father, Oliva Dionne, seeking permission to display the babies. At the time, exhibiting premature infants in incubator shows at fairs and exhibitions was not uncommon. On the advice of their physician, Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, and the family priest, Father Daniel Routhier, Oliva initially agreed to the contract but attempted to cancel it a few days later, arguing that it was invalid because his wife, Elzire, had not signed it. The promoters disputed his claim.
In July 1934, the Dionnes agreed to place the quintuplets in the temporary care of the Canadian Red Cross. In return, the Red Cross assumed responsibility for all medical expenses, paid the nurses' wages, arranged for donated breast milk, supplied equipment, and oversaw the construction of a hospital and nursery built specifically for the sisters.
In February 1935, Oliva and Elzire travelled to Chicago, where they appeared on stage as the parents of the "world famous babies". Shortly afterwards, Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn argued that the trip demonstrated the need for stronger government intervention to protect the children from commercial interests. In March 1935, the Ontario legislature passed the Dionne Quintuplets' Guardianship Act, making the sisters wards of the Crown until they reached age 18.
Oliva Dionne was appointed to the four-member Board of Guardians but rarely attended meetings, believing that his vote carried little weight against the other three guardians: Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, Judge Joseph Valin of North Bay, and Minister of Welfare David Croll. Meeting monthly, the board assumed control of the quintuplets' care and business affairs. Although the legislation was presented as a measure to protect the sisters from commercial exploitation, the provincial government soon developed the tourist attraction that became known as Quintland.
Dafoe Nursery The girls were moved from the farmhouse to this nursery on September 21, 1934, and lived there until they were nine years old. It was a nine-room nursery with a staff house nearby. The staff house held the three nurses and the three police in charge of guarding them, while a housekeeper and two maids lived in the main building with the quintuplets.
The Dionne sisters were constantly tested, studied, and examined, with records taken of everything. While living at the compound, they had a somewhat rigid lifestyle. They were not required to participate in chores and were privately tutored in the same building where they lived. Cared for primarily by nurses, they had limited exposure to the world outside the boundaries of the compound. They also had occasional contact with their parents and siblings across the road. When their parents were allowed in the nursery, they argued with the nurses. Elzire pushed the nurses and objected to the foods that they were fed.
Every morning they dressed together in a big bathroom, drank orange juice and cod liver oil, then had their hair curled. They then said a prayer, a gong sounded, and they ate breakfast in the dining room. After 30 minutes, they cleared the table. They then played in the sunroom for 30 minutes, took a 15-minute break, and at nine o'clock had their morning inspection with Dr. Dafoe. Every month, they had a different timetable of activities. They bathed every day before dinner and put on their pyjamas. Dinner was served at precisely six o'clock. They then went into the quiet playroom to say their evening prayers. Each girl had a colour and a symbol to mark whatever belonged to her. Annette's colour was red and her design a maple leaf, Cécile's green and a turkey. Émilie had white and a tulip, Marie blue and a teddy bear, and Yvonne pink and a bluebird.
Quintland The Dionne quintuplets spent much of their childhood at the centre of Quintland, a government-operated tourist attraction built around the Dafoe Nursery. Constructed through a Canadian Red Cross fundraising campaign, the nursery became the centrepiece of one of Canada's largest tourist attractions during the Great Depression. From 1935 until the sisters returned to their family in 1943, millions of people travelled to Northern Ontario to observe them.
When public visits first began, tourists viewed the quintuplets through a window of the Dafoe Nursery. Their caregivers soon concluded that this arrangement upset the girls, who became excited when visitors arrived and distressed when they left. Asking visitors to remain quiet proved ineffective, and the sisters were initially exhibited four times each day.