The Dionne Quintuplets
The Worlds First Known Surviving Quintuplets
Born during the depression, on May 28, 1934, Marie, Emily, Cecile, Annette and Yvonne Dionne were a ray of light during an otherwise dark time. They were the worlds first known surviving quintuplets and even more amazing, they were identical. The chance of identical quintuplets being born: 1 in 57 million.
When they were born in Corbeil, Ontario, just outside of North Bay, the Dionne Quintuplets received best wishes from every part of the world. In fact, the register at their home, which has now become a museum, contains names like Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Charlie Chaplin.
The quints were born two months premature and together weighed less than 14 pounds. After their birth they were put near an open stove to keep warm, but they were not expected to survive and little attention was paid to their birth outside of their hometown.
However, against all odds they did survive and thrived under the care of Dr Allan Roy Dafoe. During the dark days of the depression the quintuplet's unlikely survival provided the public hope and much needed distraction. They also became a financial windfall during a difficult time.
In order to protect the quintuplets from exploitation the Ontario government took the girls away from their parents, Elzire and Oliva Dionne and their five older siblings. Despite their continuing good health, they were moved to a hospital, which was built across the road from their family home. The hospital, built exclusively for their use, was intended to protect their privacy but it quickly became a tourist destination.
Between the years 1934 and 1943 "Quintland" as it was called received 3 million visitors. The government and local businesses are estimated to have earned half a billion dollars from the industry that sprang up around the Dionne Quintuplets.
Their story generated a tremendous amount of memorabilia; everything from books to dolls to laundry detergent had the endorsement of the Dionne Quintuplets and their doctor.
Elzire and Oliva Dionne, were discouraged from visiting their daughters but they were the only ones. The girls were viewed three times a day through a one-way screen. They were studied by scientists, x-rayed and had such things as their daily food intake monitored. They were the focus of many books and news stories and they inspired three Hollywood movies but they received virtually no earnings from these ventures.
After the quintuplets had spent nine years at Quintland, Elzire and Olivia Dionne won a bitter custody battle with the Ontario government and the girls were returned to their parents. This put the girls in the uncomfortable position of returning to a home and a family, which were alien to them. The reunion was short lived. At 18 the quintuplets left home and cut off almost all contact with their family.
Emily died at 20 in 1954 of an epileptic seizure.
In 1965 a book called "We Were Five", and co-authored by Marie, Yvonne, Annette and Cecile was published. The book described the Dionne's childhood from their perspective, which understandably turned out to be a somewhat dismal view.
In 1970 Marie died of a heart attack.
The three remaining sisters finally received compensation in 1998 when they were awarded 4 million dollars by the Ontario government.
Three years later Yvonne died in Montreal.
Today, little is reported about the Dionne Quintuplets. The uniqueness of their birth has been equaled and even surpassed with the aid of modern medicine.
Multiple births no longer attract the same amount of attention as the Dionne's birth did in 1934 but they will always be remembered as the first and for the spectacle their arrival created.
Sources
cnn.com/us/9711/19/dionne.quints accessed June 6, 2007
nfb.ca/trouverunfilm/fichefilm.php accessed June 6, 2007
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