Dionne Quintuplets turn 90 on May 28

The Dionne quintuplets born May 28, 1934, were the world’s 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.

Two of the surviving quints turned 90 this year on May 28.

The identical quintuplet girls were, in order of birth:

Yvonne Édouilda Marie Dionne (died 2001)

Annette Lillianne Marie Allard (living)

Cécile Marie Émilda Langlois (living)

Émilie Marie Jeanne Dionne (died 1954)

Marie Reine Alma Houle (died 1970)

The Dionne family was headed by father Oliva-Édouard and mother, Elzire Dionne (née Legros). They lived just outside Corbeil, in a farmhouse in unregistered territory. The Dionnes were a French-speaking farming family with five older children: Ernest, Rose Marie, Thérèse, Daniel and Pauline, who was only 11 months older than the quintuplets. A sixth child, Léo,died of pneumonia shortly after birth.

The quints were born prematurely in a humble dwelling in the bush near North Bay on May 28, 1934, during the Great Depression. The quintuplets were born prematurely.

In 1938, the doctors had a theory that was later proven correct when genetic tests showed that the girls were identical.

Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe is credited with ensuring the successful live birth of the quintuplets. He delivered the babies with the help of two midwives, Aunt Donalda and Madame Benoît Lebel, who were summoned by Oliva Dionne in the middle of the night.

Today, the two surviving quintuplets, Annette and Cecile, both 90, live in Montreal. The log house that was their birth home has been a museum for decades, but had to be re-located to a new spot in North Bay.

It’s now in a downtown park on the shore of Lake Nipissing.