Marián Chovanec (born 16 September 1957) is a Slovak Roman Catholic prelate.

In 1981 his studies were suspended by the communist regime as a punishment for Chovanec's participation in a hunger strike against the pro-regime priestly organization Pacem in Terris.

In 1990 he continued his studies at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, where he earned a doctorate in dogmatic theology in 1994.

Afterwards he served as a priest and archivist of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nitra.

[2] On 20 November 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Chovanec the bishop of Banská Bystrica to replace bishop Rudolf Baláž, who had suddenly died a year prior.