Una Cameron was born in Scotland on 6th May 1904 and belonged to a wealthy middle class family. Her father Ewen had made his fortune in South America and her mother, Jane Dewar, was the daughter of one of the leading Scottish whisky distillers, the House of Dewar.
Una's childhood in her home town of West Linton was overshadowed by the early death of her father and of her eldest sister. As a result of these tragic losses, her mother took her and her twin sister Bertha to Montreux, in Switzerland, for a holiday.
While they were there, the First World War broke out and prevented them from returning home. The children therefore began to attend a Swiss school, learned French and passed their summer holidays in the mountains.
After the war, Una returned to Great Britain and resumed her schooling in London, first at the prestigious Cheltenham Ladies College and then at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.
In 1924, encouraged by her mother's uncle Thomas Dewar, who also provided her with financial support, she moved to Rome to complete her artistic formation. There, she met people who were to become her great friends and joined the local Alpine Club, developing her passion for mountaineering.
Around 1930, she came to Courmayeur, where she met with the local guides, Édouard Bareux and Élisée Croux, in particular.
During the Second World War, she went back to Scotland where she did a great deal to help Polish soldiers, to such extent that the Polish government awarded her a gold medal, now on display at the National War Museum of Edinburgh.
After the long interval of the war, Miss Cameron was no longer able to tackle the more difficult climbs, but her prestige was such that in 1957, she was elected president of the Ladies Alpine Club, on the 50th anniversary of its foundation.
Her great passion for adventure drove her to carry on travelling and visiting new countries, returning regularly to her beautiful house at La Palud in Courmayeur, from where she could admire the most dramatic slopes of the Mont Blanc. She remained there until 1975, when old age forced her to say goodbye to Courmayeur for the last time.
She died near London on the 15th October 1987.
She was an eccentric personality, with a masculine manner but the sensitive soul of an artist. Above all, she wrote about mountains and drew the outlines of these natural surroundings she loved so much to challenge.