Cecile Dionne, one of the two remaining Dionne quintuplets, died from health complications. She was 91.
Carlo Tarini, her close friend and former spokesperson for the family, confirmed her death.
The Dionne quintuplets rose to fame after their birth on May 28, 1934. Born in a small log house in Ontario, they were believed to be the first quintuplets to survive beyond infancy.
At a time when multiple births were rare, the sisters attracted an enormous amount of public attention, which made their lives difficult in various aspects.
With Cecile’s death, her sister, Annette Dionne, is the only surviving quintuplet.
When the sisters were just four months old, the Ontario government removed them from their parents; they deemed the pair unfit after they had agreed to display the quintuplets at the Chicago World Fair.
The sisters were subsequently placed in a special observatory and nursery called Quintland, which had viewing hours when the public could go visit.
The sisters were cared for by a team of nurses and put on display for thousands of visitors.
According to Tarini, the quintuplets drew over six million visitors between 1934 and 1943, making them an even more popular tourist attraction than the Niagara Falls.
On some days, they attracted as many as 6,000 tourists a day. The funds from that would later be used to construct a multi-lane highway in northern Ontario.
After a bitter custody battle, the sisters were eventually returned to their parents, Elzire and Oliva Dionne, when they were nine years old.
However, life with their parents also had its challenges. In previous interviews, a few of the sisters came forward, saying their father was abusive.
In 1998, the three surviving Dionne sisters received a $4 million settlement from the government for its role in mismanaging their trust fund.
Leader of the Surviving Dionne Sisters
In 2017, Cecile fought to preserve her childhood home.
During that time, she also spoke with CBC, saying that they had “gone through many things.” While she and her sister held a few fond memories of Quintland, she added, “it was no way for children to grow up” as they were watched all the time.
Tarini described Cécile as “a leader among the surviving Dionne sisters” and said she had always spoken out about the hardships they endured during their childhood.
