There is provided a polyimide precursor which can alter the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the surface of a cured film formed readily even by a low level of ultraviolet ray irradiation; and a polyimide produced from the polyimide precursor. The polyimide precursor having a structure represented by the following formula (1): (where A represents a tetravalent organic group; B represents a bivalent organic group having a thiol ester bond in its main chain; R1 and R2 independently represent a hydrogen atom or a univalent organic group; and n represents a natural number).