Mother of actress Maria Fernanda, Maria Elvira and Maria Mathilde.
Her father, Carlos Alberto de Carvalho Meireles, died when she was 3 months old and her mother, Matilde Benevides, died when she was 3 years old. Cecília was raised by her maternal grandmother, Jacinta Garcia Benevides.
Her first husband, Fernando Correia Dias, killed himself in 1935. He was a Portuguese painter.
Has five grandchildren: Ricardo (Elvira's son), Luís Heitor (Fernanda's son), Fernanda Maria, Alexandre and Maria de Fátima (Matilde's children).