 Enell was born on 19 March 1887 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Otto Enell, a banker, and his wife Maria Forsell.He passed "studentexamen" in 1906 and was commissioned as an officer in the Göta Life Guards (I 2) in 1908 with the rank of "underlöjtnant".Enell attended the Royal Central Gymnastics Institute from 1913 to 1915 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1914.