Background
She was born in Eidsvoll as a daughter of physician and farmer Nils Windfeldt Thoresen and Marie Johanne Benneche. She also grew up here, together with her sister and three brothers.
She was born in Eidsvoll as a daughter of physician and farmer Nils Windfeldt Thoresen and Marie Johanne Benneche. She also grew up here, together with her sister and three brothers.
University of Oslo.
Cecilie attended private schools and graduated from Nissen Girls School in 1879. A letter from her father to the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Church Affairs to allow her to field as an exam candidate was met with a refusal. She subsequently contacted the Minister of Church, who asked the University for a statement.
She passed the examen artium in 1882, as the first Norwegian woman.
She enrolled at the University, and eventually became a student of science at the University of Oslo and later at the University of Copenhagen.
When the statement from the University was negative, she contacted member of the Parliament of Norway Hagbard Emanuel Berner, who proposed a private Acting amendment, which passed in 1882. She was a board member of the Norwegian Association for Women"s Rights from its foundation in 1884 and a board member of the humanitarian organization Norwegian Women"s Public Health Association from its foundation in 1896.