Alison Edith Debenham [also known as Alison Debenham, Alison Edith Leplat, and as Alison Edith Le Plat] was born in Kensington, London, England in 1903 and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1923 to 1926. in 1928 she moved first to Paris and in 1929 to the south of France where she studied with Simon Bussy and became acquainted with Henri Matisse and André Gide. In 1930 she married the artist René Jules Leplat (1897–1958) with whom she sometimes exhibited. Solo exhibitions of Debenham's work were held at Galerie Vignon in Paris in 1932 and at Zwemmer Gallery in London in 1935 and held a joint exhibition with Leila Faithfull at the Leicester Galleries in 1941. She also exhibited at Cooling & Sons Gallery in London in 1940 and with the Seven and Five Society.