Cederqvist grew up in the suburbs of Stockholm. She learned to swim at age 6, and at age 12 started training in a club. Within a few years she became a world top freestyle swimmer, In 1961 she quit swimming to focus on her studies. In 1970 she received her BA and in 1980 a PhD in history with a thesis titled
Arbetare i strejk: studier rörande arbetarnas politiska mobilisering under industrialismens genombrott: Stockholm 1850–1909 (Workers on Strike: The Political Mobilisation of the Working Class in Stockholm 1850–1909). She then took various jobs for central and local governments, such as department director at the
Swedish National Audit Office for six years and then director of the Association of Local Authorities. From 1994, she worked at the
Ministry of Industry, and in 1998 became director of the
Swedish Museum of National Antiquities. Cederqvist had long wanted to become directly involved with history and was first excited with this job, but later became frustrated with the lack of funds and moved to the
Ministry of Finance, where between 1999 and 2002 she acted as
director-general of the
Swedish Fortifications Agency and then worked as a tax analyst. Cederqvist died after suffering from motor neurone disease on 15 January 2023, at the age of 77. ==See also==