Book of the Week: The Dionnes
The world is buzzing with excitement over the birth of a new prince. It’s a good time to reflect on Canada’s most famous babies, the Dionne Quintuplets. They were born on May 28, 1934, outside Callander, Ontario. The first known surviving quintuplets, the five girls provided much needed distraction to a nation at the height of the Great Depression.
Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Èmilie and Marie did not have an easy childhood. They became wards of the provincial crown when they were 4 months old. The government sensed that the Dionne paren'ts were overwhelmed with the dramatic increase in their family but also spotted an opportunity to rebrand the girls as a tourist attraction, allowing members of the public to observe the children as they played.
Learn more about the quintuplets and their fight for compensation in:
The Dionnes by Ellie Tescher
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