Who is this person?

[RJNorton]

Jason Emerson mentions several possibilities, but he concludes exactly what was done with Robert's eye cannot be firmly established. The most graphic account I have ever seen is in Irving Stone's Love is Eternal. Stone mentions that Robert was nicknamed "Cockeye" by the neighborhood youths as he was growing up. According to Stone, this eye condition was corrected via such a painful operation that young Robert had to be tied down (with a stout rope against a high leather-covered chair) as a surgeon cut the overactive eye muscle which released the eye to its normal position. Robert writhed in pain. The surgeon was Dr. Sanford Bell, and he followed a surgical procedure developed in Germany by a Dr. Dieffenbach as outlined in the book "Ueber das Schielen und die Heilung."

Stone writes that the operation was a success. After healing took place Robert's right eye moved normally in both directions.

Stone's book is historical fiction but IMO very well researched.