# Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev's 69 children: how reliable is the evidence?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mrs-feodor-vassilyevs-69-children-how-reliable-is-the-evidence/503374>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 17, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mrs-feodor-vassilyevs-69-children-how-reliable-is-the-evidence/503374 "2009-07-17T19:11:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mrs-feodor-vassilyevs-69-children-how-reliable-is-the-evidence/503374/1 "2009-07-17T19:11:10Z")

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Over a forty-year period (1725-1765), Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev gave birth to 69 children in 27 confinements (not a single single).

And that’s pretty much the extent of the information. Neither her name, nor her vital dates are recorded. So. . . how credible is the evidence?

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**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mrs-feodor-vassilyevs-69-children-how-reliable-is-the-evidence/503374/2 "2009-07-17T19:48:30Z")

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Following Wikipedia citation links, we find [this page](http://books.google.com/books?id=xix2VLb4vGQC&lpg=PA96&dq=wife%20of%20Feodor%20Vassilyev&pg=PA96) from _Quadruplets and Higher Multiple Births_, by Marie M. Clay, which lists a contemporary journal account as well as citing a later publication that in turn cited a “list from Nikolskiy monastery” (baptisms I presume) and a few other articles from the 19th Century. Mr. Vassilyev’s second wife also gave birth to repeated multiples.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mrs-feodor-vassilyevs-69-children-how-reliable-is-the-evidence/503374/3 "2009-07-18T14:31:34Z")

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So. . . in 1783, someone in Moscow had received a letter saying that it had happened. Not only that, but Mr. Vassilyev had married another unknown woman with no recorded vital dates, and in an incredibel coincidence, she also had no single confinements. If that is the best evidence, then color me :dubious:

Not that my opinion matters, since apparently most researchers regard it as factual.