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NORTH BAY — Annette Dionne, the last surviving Dionne quintuplet and a champion of children’s rights, has died.

The Dionne Quints Home Museum in North Bay, Ont., says in a social media post that Annette died on Christmas Eve but did not provide further details.

Dionne and her sisters became a global sensation after their birth on May 28, 1934, as they were the first quintuplets known to survive past infancy — but the attention came at a personal cost.

When the quintuplets were just months old during the Depression era, the Ontario government took them away from their parents and put them in a nursery-style exhibition that millions of tourists lined up to observe through one-way glass.

In 1998, the Ontario government apologized to the sisters and issued a $4-million settlement for the years they spent on display.

Dionne told The Canadian Press in a 2019 interview that parents should view childhood as a precious time which shouldn’t be exploited for profit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2025.

The Canadian Press