Franz Xaver Mayr (* 28. November 1875 in Gröbming, Austria; † 21. September 1965) was an Austrian physician (gastroenterologist).
The main focus of his work was the diagnosis of the intestinal region and the effort to promote the regeneration of the patient through its rehabilitation.
The therapy concept developed from this is known as F.X. Mayr Kur.
Mayr was the third child of the butcher and innkeeper Anton Mayr (1828-1875) and the seraphine Leygold (1851-1926).
After attending elementary school in Gröbming, he was promoted in 1887 to 1. k.u.k. State grammar school in Graz.
In September 1895 he finished school with distinction and began studying medicine in Graz.
During various internships at the Sankt Radegund Spa and Water Treatment Centre near Graz (1899-1903), Mayr learned to massage patients suffering from severe constipation, which gave him decisive ideas for his own concept.
In May 1901 Mayr received his doctorate summa cum laude.
In 1903 he was appointed head of the Johannisbrunn hydropathic clinic near Troppau.
1903 to 1906 followed study trips to Paris, Nancy, Dresden, Berlin and London, where he heard pathology, psychotherapy, dietetics; in the museums of Naples and Rome
he studied the physique of antique statues and paintings and established connections with the state of health, which flowed into his diagnosis and treatment concept.
From 1906 Mayr began to treat in summer in the famous seaside resort of Karlovy Vary and in winter in Vienna. In 1915 he took his first fasting cure.