The paper is devoted to Maurice Allais, the Nobel prize winner and one of the most original and deep-thinking economist whose centenary is celebrated this year. The authors describe his contributions to economics, and his place in contemporary science - economics and physics, as well as his personality and philosophy. Scientific works by Allais, albeit translated into Russian, still remain little known. The present article aims to fill this gap and to pay tribute to this outstanding intellectual and academic, who deceased last year, aged 99.