general in 2013 Vannacci was born in
La Spezia, Liguria, in 1968. He attended the
Military Academy of Modena and the Application School of
Turin and obtained three master's degrees: in strategic sciences, achieved at the
University of Turin, in international and diplomatic sciences at the
University of Trieste and in military sciences at the
University of Bucharest. During his military career, Vannacci held the roles of commander of the
9th Paratroopers Assault Regiment "Col Moschin", of the
Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore", of the Italian troops in the
Iraqi civil war as well as of "Task Force 45" during the
War in Afghanistan. He also commanded Italian forces deployed in the Balkans, Rwanda, Somalia, and Libya, and was awarded the US
Legion of Merit in 2018 for his efforts to combat the
Islamic State group. Vannacci became a well-known and discussed figure following the publication, in August 2023, of his book
Il mondo al contrario which, due to the controversial statements expressed on feminism,
immigrants,
homosexuals,
environmentalism, and Jews brought him to the center of considerable media attention. The book rose to first place among the best sellers in Italy in the week from 14 to 20 August. Defense Minister
Guido Crosetto said that the publication had not been cleared by Vannacci's superiors and that Vannacci "expressed opinions that discredit the Army, the Ministry of Defence and the Constitution". This investigation ended in February 2024 with suspension from service for 11 months with half the salary. According to the conclusions of the internal proceedings, in fact, the publication of the book would have determined an "injury to the principle of neutrality/third party of the Armed Force [...] compromising the prestige and reputation of the Administration to which it belongs and generating possible disruptive and divisive emulative effects in the 'scope of the military team".
Member of the European Parliament and party leader In April 2024, he accepted the candidacy to the
European Parliament for the party
Lega. He was elected to the European Parliament and was the second most voted candidate in Italy. On 16 July 2024, he was elected vice president of the EP group
Patriots for Europe, but his nominee was opposed by the other parties and he was removed on the following day. On 15 May 2025, Vannacci was appointed deputy secretary of Lega, under the leadership of
Matteo Salvini. In December 2025, Vannacci launched a political think tank that re-evaluated the role of the twenty years of
Fascism and of
Freemasonry, passing through the Italian
Risorgimento and Italy's
Pater Patriae. Towards 2025, rumors began circulating that Vannacci was considering a break from the League to pursue an independent political project. In late 2025, he promoted a network of political committees and associations known as "The World Upside Down" (
Il Mondo al Contrario), named after his 2023 book and developed as an organisational base for his political activism. Originally conceived as a cultural association to promote Vannacci's ideas, the network grew rapidly across Italy with dozens of local team committees established to articulate his political vision and mobilise supporters. These speculations intensified in January 2026, after he registered the trademark and symbol for a proposed political movement called
National Future (
Futuro Nazionale) with the European intellectual property authorities, suggesting plans to create a distinct party. On 3 February 2026, Vannacci formally left the League, ending his affiliation with the party after months of internal tensions over his political positions, and launched his new party's manifesto. On the same day, Vannacci was expelled from the Patriots for Europe group. On 6 February, FN was officially registered as a party and Vannacci became its president. ==Political positions==