Rudolf Chmel (born 11 February 1939) is a Slovak politician who was Minister of Culture in the government of Slovakia from 2002 to 2005 and again in 2006.

He was also the last ambassador of Czechoslovakia accredited to Hungary, a member of the Parliament of Slovakia, and a writer and editor.

He graduated in 1961 in Slovak literature and language at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava.

Between 1972 and 1982 he was an editor of the journal Slovenská literatúra (Slovak Literature) and from 1982 he was secretary of the Czechoslovak Writers Union.

[2] He speaks Czech, Slovak, Russian, Hungarian, Polish and German.