Marie Caroline Ernestine Clementine Kruse (1842–1923) was a pioneering Danish schoolteacher and principal, specializing in the education of girls.
After her confirmation, she went on to learn French, English and Italian, receiving private tuition from the schoolteacher and politician Christian Flor (1792–1875).
After her father's death in 1859, together with several friends, he paid for training up to the level of head teacher at N. Zahle's School in Copenhagen from 1860 to 1862.
[2] On receiving her qualification, Kruse joined Louise Thomsen at the school she ran for the sons and daughters of Danish officers who had served or lived in Schleswig and Holstein.
Increasingly, she received the support of affluent parents who believed their daughters should move with the times and be able to stand on their own two feet.