This Indian ink drawing was produced to illustrate a text by Father Hermann Plante about the start of the school year at the Séminaire Saint-Joseph, published in the alumni newsletter Le Ralliement. The Séminaire Saint-Joseph building can be seen in the background, while a few mature trees appear in front of its façade, as well as part of the parking lot from which a convertible drives off at full speed driven by a young man with two passengers, hair blowing in the wind, greeting a friend left behind.

Hermann Plante was the son of a farmer. His father was Joseph Plante, and his mother was Hedwidge Lemire.

Hermann was born in 1907 in Saint-Justin in the Mauricie region of Quebec. After completing his classical and theological studies, respectively, at the Petit and Grand Séminaire de Trois-Rivières, he was ordained as a priest on June 29, 1934, by Msgr. Alfred-Odilon Comtois, 4th bishop of the diocese. Following his ordination, Plante continued his studies while teaching at the Séminaire Saint-Joseph. He thus obtained a degree in literature from the Université Laval in 1938 and a diploma in diction from the École classique de Montréal in 1942.

In 1959, he was entrusted with the priesthood of Sainte-Geneviève-de-Batiscan, a position that he held until 1961. But a serious illness rendered him completely speechless. The diocese authorities then entrusted him with the responsibility of the Archives of the Seminary and the Bishopric of Trois-Rivières.

Father Plante was a prolific author. In 1937, he wrote and published Saint-Justin, foyer de sérénité rurale. Then, with the involvement of Father Louis Martel, he published Mon pays, histoire du Canada (1956). Then, he published L’Église catholique au Canada (1970) and wrote many texts for Le Ralliement.

He died on July 11, 1978, at the age of 71.

As for the artist, Lévis Martin, he was active in the educational, cultural, and artistic spheres for more than 70 years. Educated at the Séminaire Saint-Joseph, the Université Laval, and in Europe at the Collège de France and the École du Louvre in art history and aesthetics, as well as the Institut catholique de Paris (master of arts), he was by turns a teacher, an author of volumes devoted to the arts, a contributor to the Boréal-Express, an exhibition organizer, a member or president of major juries or expert committees, a columnist, a member of boards of directors, a radio show host, etc.

In 2008, the Musée Pierre-Boucher devoted an exhibition to Lévis Martin, a former emeritus of the Séminaire Saint-Joseph in 2005, to highlight his 60-year career.

Musée Pierre-Boucher Collection
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