Born on 22 October 1915 in
Esbjerg, Camma Sylvia Søgaard was the daughter of Albert Poulsen Søgaard (1889–1950), a mechanic, and
Lucia Catharina Jochumsen Holm (1879–1953), a seamstress. The second of three children, she was brought up in a modest home. After completing her middle school education, she was employed by the newspaper
Vestkysten where she was trained as an office worker. In 1932, after passing the
trade school examination, she was promoted to the sales department, ultimately becoming the secretary of the newspaper's editor Knud Ree, who later became fisheries minister. In 1939, she married the journalist Clement Larsen-Ledet (1915–1984), gave up her job with
Vestkysten, and moved with him to
Southern Jutland. In 1945, they moved to Aabenraa where her husband became the local editor for the daily newspaper
Sønderjyden. Initially she stayed at home raising their two children while developing an interest in politics. After becoming a member of the Social Democratic Party, she served on the party's local management board from 1954 to 1961, heading the Aabenraa women's committee (1957–1960). ==References==