ROISIN, Maxime (1871-1960) of Paris, France was one member of a team of architects who collaborated on the restoration of the Roman Catholic basilica at SAINTE ANNE-DE-BEAUPRE, QUE. after a fire caused heavy damage to the structure in March 1922 (Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times, 7 March 1923, 4). The cornerstone for the new Basilica was laid in September 1924, and a detailed architectural description of the design by Roisin appeared in several eastern Canadian newspapers including The Evening Mail [Halifax], 9 Sept. 1924, 3; and The Charlottetown Guardian, 13 Sept. 1924, 9. Roisin worked with Louis N. Audet of Sherbrooke and J.E.C. Daoust of Montreal for eight years before the project was halted in 1931 because of the Great Depression. It was not until 1937 that the work on the interior resumed and was finally completed in 1946 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xviii, April 1941, 63). In 1922, Roisin was also commissioned to design the large base and pedestal to support the statue of Cardinal Elzear Alexandre Taschereau at Quebec City (Edmonton Bulletin, 9 Oct. 1922, 5, descrip.)
In 1923 Roisin was invited by Raoul Chenevert to assist with the restoration of Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church in QUEBEC CITY, QUE. which had also been gutted by fire in 1922. The drawings by Roisin for the restoration work have survived and can be found in the Chenevert Collection at Laval University in Quebec City (L. Noppen, Notre Dame de Quebec, 1974, 239, plates 127-28). In 1925 Roisin was asked by Chenevert to assist with the preparation of a design for a new Provincial Museum at Quebec. His scheme was not realised, but the elaborate drawings by Chenevert which show the influence of Roisin have also survived (Laval University, Chenevert Coll.). Roisin retired from practise in 1951 and died in Marseille, France on 28 December 1960 (biog. L. Noppen, Quebec Moumental 1890-1990, 184; inf. Ms. M.P. Bergeron-Binette, Quebec City). A major thesis on the career and work of this leading French architect was prepared at Laval University in 1986 by Ms. Marie-Paule Bergeron-Binette.