Una Cameron

Una Cameron was a Scottish artist and mountaineer who made significant contributions to both fields. Born into wealth as the twin daughter of landowner Ewen Cameron and Jeanie Dewar of the Dewar whisky family, she received formal artistic training at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London after studying at Cheltenham Ladies' College in Switzerland. While her climbing achievements—including first ascents in the Alps and Caucasus, and becoming the first woman to summit Batian on Mount Kenya in 1938—often overshadow her artistic background, her creative sensibilities informed her perspective on mountaineering. Cameron served as president of the Ladies' Alpine Club from 1956-1958 and spent much of her life in Courmayeur, Italy, where her former home, Villa Cameron, now serves as headquarters for the Montagna Sicura Foundation.