The pavilion was named after Juraj Matija Šporer, a physician who played an important role in the promotion of the idea of Opatija as a seaside health resort. After his early retirement in 1851 (until then he had worked in Ljubljana), Šporer moved to Primorje and continued to work as a physician to the Tobacco factory and the Austrian Lloyd in Rijeka and as a private doctor in Veprinac and Kastav. He soon came to the idea of establishing a sanatorium for poor scrofulous patients in Opatija, and in 1872 founded the Commission for the establishment of a balneary and inhalation sanatorium in Opatija with a group of prominent and wealthy citizens of Rijeka. According to its programme and statute, this should have functioned both as a joint-stock company and as a non-profit charitable institution. Although this initiative eventually failed, it nevertheless played an important role in the development of Opatija, and Šporer is today regarded as one of the initiators of the idea of Opatija as a health resort.